Roland
by Roland127
Summary: Roland arrives at Beacon a year after everyone else. With no team of his own, and a past that can only be described as tragic, Roland still pushes forward, always fighting, always doing the best he can. With the help of team RWBY and team JNPR, maybe he can finally have a life worthy of someone like him. First attempt at a fanfic, hope you guys enjoy.
1. Chapter 1: Arrival

**Hey guys, so this is just gonna be a really, really short intro, I just wanted to get the description of Roland out of the way so I could get into the good stuff. This is my first time writing a fanfic, but don't go easy on me. Anything you think is wrong, let me know and I'll go about correcting it. I would like to state that this is not my best, cause like I said, I just wanted to get the description of Roland done and over with. So I hope you enjoy, and without further a due and much a bother, away we go. **

"And this is where you'll be living for the next three years." Ozpin said, waving a hand across the almost empty room. The room was almost a perfect square, and in the far right corner sat a single bed, resting next to a small wooden dresser. Against the left wall there was a small wooden table, and a solitary chair was pushed in under it. Directly across from the door, a large window gave a wonderful view of the courtyard below, looking more like a small park as multitude of students rested on the soft grass while others played football or threw flying disks.

A tall, skinny boy stepped around Ozpin and into the room, his emerald green eyes darting all around, taking in every possible detail. He dropped a large cardboard box on the floor, which landed with a heavy _thud,_ and then went back to examining the room. He had long brown hair, which extended past his ears, covering them completely. His bangs reached down to just below his eyes, and he gave his head a casual flick to the side in order to toss the hair out of his way. His hair laid perfectly flat on his head, no strands sticking up, not a single hair put of place, and extended down the back of his neck, stopping at the shoulders. He wore a simple t-shirt and sweatpants, obviously not dressing to impress.

"I thought students at Beacon worked and lived in teams." He said, gesturing to the single bed, his voice deep and emotionless. Ozpin let out a small sigh at his words, then took a sip of coffee from his cup. He hated to do this to the boy, someone like him didn't deserve to be alone, but there were no more students left. The boy's past had been difficult and tangled, like a mass of confused vines, and the boy had been forced to go through things that would make most people commit suicide. Yet here he stood, devoting his life to protecting and helping the innocent, despite being treated like an outcast, a monster, for his entire life.

"You've arrived during the second year, and summer break ends next week. There were no more students left to pair you with. I'm sorry, but you're going to have to live alone. We couldn't find you a team." Ozpin said, seeing a flicker of sadness race through the boys eyes. The emotion was immediately pushed to the side as the boy's faced returned to a neutral state as he came to terms with being alone again.

"Fine, I like being alone anyway. Three other people in a room like this would probably be a hindrance anyway." He said, walking over to the window and looking at the view he was presented with. Ozpin joined him, seeing the looks of disappointment run across the boy's face as he seemed to phase out, his eyes turning glassy.

"Instead of having your own team, you will be sent out with other teams during their missions, or you will be given partners when your own work comes. You have two main teams you will be sent out with, RWBY and JNPR. Both are living just down the hall, and I suggest you get yourself well acquainted. In exactly eight days you will be sent into the Emerald Forest for your initiation. You will be accompanied by Ruby Rose." Ozpin said, taking another sip from his coffee as he finished speaking.

The boy still seemed uninterested, but gave a slight nod of understanding. He still looked out he window, now gazing at the groups of students down below. His room was on the fourth floor, providing a view of the entire courtyard below. He watched as groups of four sat on the grass, smiles spreading wide across their faces as the spoke to each other, while others ran around, enjoying the beautiful weather. After he had had enough, the boy suddenly grabbed the curtains and pulled them across the window, plunging the room into darkness.

The boy let out a relieved sigh as the light disappeared from the room, replaced by the comforting dark. "Alright, seems simple enough. I've heard plenty about the amazing team RWBY and their incredible success during battle. I'll talk to them all later." He said, walking over to the bed and seemingly collapsing onto the sheets. Ozpin, now aware that it would probably be better for him to leave, headed towards the door.

"I know what you're capable of, both on the battlefield and off. You might fool the students with your tough act, but I know how much of a caring individual you are. You've been given the chance to prove how exceptional you are, despite your drawbacks. I'd suggest you take advantage of it. You are a very special person, and as such, I've given you special exceptions. On your scroll, you will find detailed descriptions on the members of teams RWBY and JNPR. Use the mind that I know you have and find what best suits you. Oh, and welcome to Beacon, Roland" The door closed as Ozpin finished, and Roland remained on the bed, enjoying the silence combined with darkness that know surrounded him. He thought about Ozpin's words as sleep slowly started to creep up on him. One last sentence ran through his mind before he drifted off.

_Welcome to Beacon indeed... _

**So yeah, that's that. Next chapter is when it'll get good, I promise. I've already got a massive amount written (and I mean like, oh my god you guys, there's like, a hundred plus pages) so all I need to do is read over them, make sure everything is alright, and then post them. Hope you liked it, and like I said, don't hold back on the criticism. **


	2. Chapter 2: The new kid

Ruby Rose was curious. She sat in her bed, staring up at the ceiling as she thought about what she should do. She desperately wanted to find out who that boy was, and why he seemed so different. Ruby had seen Ozpin leading the boy around, watched as the two trecked across campus, the boy seeming uninterested to say the least. He reminded Ruby of the first time she had seen Blake. The only exception being that this boy was far different from the average person, that much Ruby knew for sure.

He had walked around, arms crossed, hood up, the only visible feature on his face had been his eyes, which seemed to almost glow green. Ruby had been drawn to the fact that he too wore a cloak, but unlike Ruby, his seemed much thicker, and he had it wrapped around him tightly. The boy had been wearing casual clothes, sweatpants and a t-shirt, yet he still had the cloak on, acting like it was a part of his body. Even Ruby took hers off from time to time, but the boy had kept it wrapped around him like a barrier.

Ruby had also noticed that the boy was living in the previously vacant room just down the hall. She would have to meet the boy eventually, and she was never one to base people off of first impressions. So she decided she would go introduce herself. After all, his eyes, despite looking emotionless at first glance, seemed to have a certain energy to them, a determination the made Ruby feel like this boy was much more than meets the eye.

Ruby sat up now, feeling a small bit of excitement start to build up inside her. Maybe this new kid would be a ton of fun, and she could make a new friend. The excitement now beginning to grow, Ruby jumped down from her bed, landing lightly on the floor and immediately walking towards the door. Blake and Yang had gone off somewhere, probably to have a bit of alone time, considering how close the couple had grown over the past year.

Weiss had been laying in her own bed studying when she watched Ruby hit the ground and head for the door. "Where are you going?" The heiress asked, wondering what her girlfriend was up to this time. Ruby was already halfway out the door by the time Weiss spoke.

"I'm gonna go say hi to the new kid down the hall." The brunette said, wondering if the heiress would want to come along. Weiss' scowl immediately put that thought out of Ruby's head, and the younger girl started to walk out the door again.

"Well be careful. Something seems off about that guy, I don't trust him." Weiss said, resuming her reading.

"You don't trust anyone." Ruby chimed, closing the door behind her. A small grin spread across her lips at the thought of how protective Weiss was. Sure, it got annoying sometimes, but it reminded Ruby of how much the two loved each other, despite the constant bickering.

When Ruby arrived at the door to the boy's room, she found that the previous feelings of excitement had turned into feelings of nervousness and anxiety. What if he didn't like her? What if she did nothing more than get in his way? She started debating whether she should say hi or just go back to her own room and leave the boy be.

After a few minutes of arguing with herself, Ruby finally decided to go through with it. She told herself that everything would be fine, and took a few deep breaths to steady her nerves. She raised her hand up and tapped on the door three times, then waited. No responses came from inside the room, and so Ruby knocked again, this time a little more forcefully.

Ruby could now hear noises from inside the room, signifying that she had got their attention. A large number of heavy footsteps came from inside the room, sounding like a giant was walking around inside, then there was a loud crash. A large number of curses followed, and moments later the clicks of locks came from the other side of the door. The door suddenly swung open, Ruby taking a step back as the boy suddenly appeared in the doorframe. When Ruby saw the state of the boy, she let out a small gasp.

His hair was a mess, strands going in all directions, looking like he had let a blind man put gel in it. The green eyes that had previously been devoid of emotion were now filled with looks of grief and depression as they gazed at the small girl before them. His eyes were also bloodshot, making it seem like he hadn't slept in years. His breathing was heavy, and thin trails of tears ran down his cheeks. He had on a pair of blue sweatpants, but no shirt, giving Ruby a view of the scars that ran across his body. Four large claw marks stretched from his left shoulder to the bottom of his ribs, which were slightly visible due to the boy being as skinny as he was.

Ruby saw that his right shoulder had bandages wrapped all around it, and small dots of red stained the white material. Despite the boy being skinny, he was stilled fit, but his muscles had no chance to show off as he leaned against the doorframe, giving off the impression that he was physically exhausted. He was still a good bit taller than Ruby, the brunette's eyes only coming up to his chin. Ruby could only think of one word to describe the boy at this moment, and that word was _broken. _

"Did you need something?" He asked, his voice deep and raspy, making it sound like he had gravel in his throat. Ruby stumbled over her words, still a little shocked at the state he was in as she noticed that his room was pitch black.

"O-oh, I, uh, I w-wanted to introduce myself… I'm R-Ruby, Ruby Rose." She extended her hand out, hoping the boy would except the gesture. Ruby was surprised when not only did he accept the handshake, but a small smile made it's way onto his face.

"I'm Roland. Nice to meet you." His voice picked up slightly, a small amount of energy and friendliness creeping into his words. But the smile never reached his eyes, the green orbs still being filled with sadness.

"Are you okay? You seem a little…" Ruby searched for the right word, trying to think of a polite yet caring term to describe Roland's current condition. He let out a small chuckle as he watched Ruby try to find a good term.

'I'll be fine, don't worry. Just a little… Off right now" He said, now standing at full height. Ruby noticed even more scars going across his body, wincing as she saw one starting at his left hip and stretching up his body, ending below his armpit.

"Oh… Well, okay…" Ruby said, noticing how much taller Roland was than her. She would have to stand on her toes to look him in the eye, and saw that he stood in a naturally defensive stance, like he expected someone to attack at any time.

"Uh, well I guess I'll be going now… It was nice meeting you Roland." Ruby said, feeling the situation getting awkward as the two stood in silence. Roland gave a small nod, then started to close the door. Ruby felt like she should say something, anything that would make Roland feel better, because something was obviously wrong. But before Ruby could think of something, the door closed, and she heard the lock click back into place. Ruby let out a small sigh, then headed back to her own room. Her attempt to make a new friend had very obviously failed, and she felt like she had only made things worse.

Weiss noticed Ruby's change in attitude the moment she entered the room. Less than five minutes ago the girl had been her normal, goofy self. But now, it seemed like something was bothering her. Despite Weiss' attempts, Ruby barely spoke now, giving no details about the boy except his name. Weiss, still worried about her girlfriend but now aware of the fact that she wasn't going to get anything out of Ruby, went back to studying. The heiress was particularly surprised when Ruby asked if she could lay in bed with her, a request that Ruby made only when something was truly wrong, but she didn't want to talk about it.

Weiss accepted, setting her book aside as Ruby laid down beside her, wrapping an arm around the brunette's shoulders as she rested her head on Weiss' chest. She wanted to know what was bothering Ruby, and to help her girlfriend return to her normal self. But for now, Weiss settled with laying in bed with Ruby, knowing that eventually she would share her problems. Patience was a virtue, after all.

Back in Roland's room, the boy laid on his bed in the pitch black, his mind going to war with itself as it had done so many times before. Roland had no idea why Ruby had come to see him. No one had done that before, no one had ever willingly introduced themselves. But then, maybe things were going to be different at this school, maybe people would accept him here.

Roland pushed the positive thoughts away, reminding himself to not get his hopes up. He would stick with the strategy of isolation, the only thing that had ever kept him safe in the past. What had people ever done for him? Nothing, thats what. The numerous names and insults he had gathered over the years raced through his mind. _Idiot, failure, worthless, monster, _remembering how these were the things he had been called, remembering how people exiled him, isolated him, made it clear that he didn't belong.

Roland rolled over on his side, pulling the blankets over his head, trying to protect himself from the never ending onslaught of pain and misery. But deep down, Roland was strong, unbeatable, determined. He knew that these waves of emotional pain would eventually pass, and then he could start to forge his new life. THe darkness inside him yearned to get out, demanding bloodshed, but Roland wouldn't let it control him anymore. Tomorrow was not only a new day, but a new life. But tomorrow was just that, tomorrow. So for now, Roland did the only thing he could do.

He wept. 


	3. Chapter 3: So it begins

The next week seemed to go by in the blink of an eye. Without warning, summer break was suddenly over, and everyone had to get back into the routine of daily classes. It took a long while, but Ruby eventually managed to get her team back on track, Yang being the most troublesome of the group. The blond had always hated school, mainly due to the fact that she had the attention span of a goldfish. Five minutes after the first class of the year and Yang was already day dreaming, thinking about how much she would rather be in the school gym training with a punching bag than sitting through a lecture.

Port was in the middle of one of his stories when none other than Roland walked through the door, seemingly uncaring about being ten minutes late. Everyone noticed that he wasn't wearing a uniform, but instead had on a set of clothes that one would wear into battle.

Everything he wore was pitch black, which made his bright green eyes stand out even more than they already would have. He had on a long sleeved shirt, made of a light yet durable material that resembled a thicker, heavier version of silk. The shirt seemed a little tight, showing of the boy's muscles, but looked like it was loose enough to avoid hindering movement. His pants were made of the same material, and the bottoms had been tucked into the black leather boots that Roland wore. The boots extended halfway up his shins, and a multitude of symbols and figures were burned into the leather.

Roland wore his cloak as well, but it was attached much looser now, not being rapped around his body as tightly as Ruby had previously seen. He had the hood pulled up, covering his entire face in shadow as he walked into the classroom. Still the most noticeable feature had to be the boy's eyes, seeming to give off a green glow, even after being trapped in darkness.

Roland also walked in a much different way than Ruby had seen a week ago. Instead of being hunched down and having his head drooped when he walked he stood tall, seeming proud and strong as he walked through the isles of desks towards port. He completely ignored everyone else in the classroom, unphased by the numerous whispers that spread throughout the students.

What no one in the room knew was that underneath the hood, Roland's eyes were darting back and forth, taking in every last detail of the room. In seconds he memorized the layout, where every entrance and exit was, and where everyone was seated. He memorized the look of every person in the room, their posture, the way the looked at him, where they sat, and started to estimate the type of person they would be.

Rland walked up to Port, handed him a couple papers, then, without waiting for a response, turned around and walked to the back left corner of the room, taking great care to make himself as unnoticeable as possible.

Port scanned over the papers quickly, then nodded and set them aside, resuming his lecture. Everyone was questioning what the papers had said, and why Roland was able to get out of being late. Most assumed that Ozpin was probably involved, as he was the only one who had the power to get someone out of class, but others, like Ruby, still wanted to know why Roland was late in the first place. She tried asking Weiss, but the heiress did little more than hush the girl, telling her to "pay attention."

The rest of class seemed like a reenactment of what last year had been like. All the students daydreamed or whispered to each other while Port continued to tell story after story, telling the students of how he had saved a town or taken down an entire Nevermore nest on his own. Ruby couldn't help but turn her gaze towards Roland as her mind began to wonder. He sat in the corner, blending in with the darkness. He was reading something on his scroll, obviously uninterested in Port's stories.

The bell suddenly rang, and in seconds everyone was packed up and leaving, all eager to be away from Port and his repetitive tales of adventure. Roland was one of the last to leave, staying seated in the corner until a majority of the people had left. Ruby noticed this and walked over to him, hoping that this encounter would go better than last time. Even as she approached Roland continued to read something from his scroll, his eyes flowing across the screen as he zoomed in and out on certain pictures and pieces of text.

"Hey Roland, what's up?" Ruby said, waving as she drew closer. Roland's head shot up at her voice, and he seemed to relax a little at the sight of her. He let out a small, relieved sigh before responding.

"Hello Ruby. Nothing much, just reading a few documents. What about you?" He said, snapping his scroll closed and sliding it into one of the many pouches on his clothes.

"Oh, you know, nothin much, just trying to get back into the groove of things." She said, giving the boy a smile and enjoying the fact that she was already doing better than her last attempt to talk to him. Roland took a breath to respond, but he was cut off by Ozpin's voice coming over the intercom.

"Ruby Rose and Roland, you are both to report to the cliff face in ten minutes, it is time for Roland's initiation." Ozpin's voice was as calm as ever, but had a small bit of energy mixed in. Roland let out another sigh, this one being much heavier.

"Well, lets get this done with. I do not intend to spend my day trekking through the forest looking for some relic and fighting grimm." He said, gathering his belongings and heading for the door, giving Ruby a short goodbye as he past her.

Ruby waited till he was out of sight, then she nearly slapped herself. She had completely forgotten about Roland's initiation, and now she would have to skip her normal routine of preparing herself before a mission. She wasted no time now, dashing out of the classroom and going straight back to her room. She had ten minutes to change and get to the cliff, which meant that she wouldn't be able to look over Crescent Rose like she prefered to.

_Well, out of the frying pan… _

Roland made it back to his own room in no time at all, grabbed his weapons, then made for the cliff. Ozpin and Glenda were undoubtedly waiting, and Roland never was one to be late. As he walked through the large hallways, Roland noticed that they were almost deserted. Little to no one could be seen, and those who were in the hallways were running in the same direction that Roland was walking in. _This better not have anything to do with my initiation… So help me god if Ozpin had made it a public spectacle- _

Roland's thoughts were immediately silenced when he rounded a corner and collided with someone that had been moving at a very brisk pace. Roland had no idea what had happened, stars blinking in and out of his vision as he felt his head slam into the ground, followed closely by his back, knocking the air out of his lungs.

He let out a groan as he sat up, rubbing the area on the back of his head that had hit the ground, trying to get rid of the pain. His vision was still blurry, filled with black dots as he tried to make sense of what just happened. After blinking a few times, Roland could finally see properly, and he was greeted with the sight of none other than Velvet Scarlatina, who stood in front of him, her cheeks turning bright red as she realized what had happened.

"I'm so sorry! I wasn't paying attention!" Velvet tried to get her apology out as fast as possible, praying that the boy wasn't mad at her. She recognized him from the times she had seen him walking around the school, and from the now iconic black cloak that he seemed to never take off. Velvet knelt down beside him, helping him stand up again as she tried to remember his name.

"Are you alright?" She asked, noticing the fact that he was taking very deep, troubled breaths. Once he managed to stand up, he gave her a small wave of his hand.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine. Just got the wind knocked out of me, thats all. You okay too?" Roland asked, taking a few more deep breaths before standing at full height again. Just like everyone else in the school, Velvet was a bit shorter than Roland, if you didn't include the rabbit ears. She started to trip over her words now, and Roland felt like he could feel the nervousness radiating off the girl.

"Y-yeah, I'm f-fine." She said, fidgeting with her fingers as she looked away from him, trying to hide the growing blush on her face. Ozpin's voice suddenly rang throughout the halls again.

"Roland and Ruby Rose, you now have five minutes to arrive at the cliff face."

Roland immediately turned to leave, but decided that it would be best to ease Velvet's thoughts a little before running off.

"Look, I need to go, sorry for running into you. I'll see you around." He said, giving Velvet a small wave as he walked away. Velvet, still feeling incredibly embarrassed, waved back, then watched as Roland took off, sprinting away at high speeds.

Velvet repeated his name in her mind as she remembered hearing people talk about how the boy seemed mean and cold hearted. But she had just ran into him face first and he acted like it was his fault. She had to admit that the black apparel and towering height made the boy a little intimidating, but by no means did he seem like a bad person.

Velvet was still thinking about Roland as she continued on her way. Something about his eyes, the way they had seemed so calm, yet on fire. She couldn't pinpoint it, but something about Roland was very, very unique. Whatever it was, it made Velvet feel safe, like she didn't have to be scared. But Velvet pushed the thoughts out of the way.

She was probably just being silly.


	4. Chapter 4: More than meets the eye

Roland arrived at the cliff face, and the sight before him brought great displeasure. Just beside the launch pads stood a massive set of bleachers, and in front of those sat a giant, white screen, one that was made for projections. Roland, realizing that his fears had come true, made a beeline for Ozpin the moment he spotted the man.

Ozpin watched Roland approach, taking a sip of coffee on an attempt to hide his smirk. He knew the boy would be displeased, but this was necessary. Roland wasn't going to demonstrate his abilities any time soon, but he felt that people needed to know what the boy was capable of. But still, the sight of Roland walking straight at Ozpin with fire in his eyes was enough to make him second guess his decision.

"Have you lost your damn mind Ozpin? I thought this was a test, not a goddamn movie!" Roland said, venom in his words as he prepared to unleash hell on the man.

"You deserve some credibility for your abilities, and so you it shall be provided to you." Ozpin said, taking another sip of his coffee after finishing his sentence.

"I don't need _credibility. _The only thing I need is to complete this idiotic test and get back in one piece. I am not some entertainer that this lot-" Roland pointed to the large number of students seated in the bleachers. "- Can come and watch because they have nothing better to do!"

Ozpin, understanding why the boy was upset, continued to stay calm. "You're going to have to come out of your shell eventually Roland, so why not today?"

Roland took a deep breath, preparing to unleash another wave of anger on Ozpin, but was interrupted by the sound of Ruby yelling in the distance. He turned around and saw the girl running at full speed, her cloak flapping in the wind as she yelled something about being late. Roland turned his head to Ozpin, unwilling to let the man have the last word. "I'll do as I damn well please, and I _do not _need your, or anyone else's help."

Ruby was completely exhausted by the time she arrived. She had to run across nearly half the campus, and even with her semblance, that was a difficult task. She too noticed the massive set of bleachers a large crowd of students sitting in front of a white screen, but decided to ignore it. The only thing Ruby was concerned about at that moment was making sure she wasn't late.

Once she was close enough, she noticed that Roland had made some additions. Four flintlock pistols were strapped against his chest, two more sat on each of his hips. The wood on the handles was, unsurprisingly, jet black, which caused the silver of the barrels to stand out even more as the polished metal shot off beams of reflected sunlight. Two sword handles stuck out from behind Roland, lined up perfectly with his head. But there was one very unique trait that the swords possessed. One of them was black, seemingly made of stone or hardened wood, but the other was white, whiter than clouds in fact.

Rolland turned suddenly, walking towards the launch pads as Ruby drew closer. This gave her a view of the sheaths of the swords, both of them being beautifully crafted. They followed the color schemes of the handles, one being dark as night, the other being amazingly white, the latter standing out against Roland's dark attire. The sheaths were made of a wood of some kind, and had patterns of spirals and waves stretching all over them. Ruby took a moment to admire the craftsmanship and condition of the weapons. Roland seemed to treat them the same way she treated Crescent Rose.

"Hey, Hey… Im… Here…" Ruby came to a skidding halt, trying to form coherent sentences in between deep breaths.

"Good, now we can start. Come on, the faster we get this done the faster we can get back." Roland said, waving her over to the launch pads. Ruby joined him quickly, choosing a pad next to Roland as Ozpin and Glenda approached them.

"You both seem eager, so I'll keep this short. This is your objective." Ozpin held up his scroll, showing the many pictures of a small, blue sphere spread across the screen. "You only have a limited amount of time to get in the forest, find the object, then get out, otherwise we will not be able to send ships to pick you up. In short, you have till nightfall to get out with your objective, or you'll be spending the night in the forest."

Ruby opened her mouth to protest, but she was silenced by Roland, who held up a hand to stop the girl's protest. After he was sure that Ruby wasn't going to say anything, he spoke directly to Ozpin.

"Simple enough. Get in, get out. Now if you don't mind, I'd like to have as much time as possible, so lets get going." Roland said, acting as if the danger of spending a night in the forest was nothing more than a family picnic. Ruby watched as Roland took out two small pieces of metal and clipped them around his ears, then got into a ready position, preparing to be launched into the sky.

"They aren't really gonna make us stay in the forest overnight are they?" Ruby asked, going into her own ready position. Roland looked at her, then shrugged. The earpieces he had previously put in place now extended, covering his eyes with a solid piece of metal. Despite seeming like pure steel, a small wave of red pulsed across the visor, making it seem like some sort of screen. Ruby's confusion only grew.

"Uh, what is that thing?" She asked, slightly intimidated by the sight of Roland wearing the visor. He was scary enough on his own, but with his eyes covered by the piece of metal like that, the boy seemed like some sort of assassin.

"Oh, just a little device I had made a few years ago. It'll help us, don't worry." He said, going into a kneeling position as Ozpin gave some sort of speech to the crowd. Roland figured he had a few more minutes, and decided to use those to give Ruby some reassuring words, as the girl looked like she was incredibly nervous.

"Alright Ruby, heres what I want you to do. The second your feet hit the ground, you start running for the dead center of the forest. _Do not _try to find me, and for the love of god try to avoid combat. I don't need or want you getting hurt. If things go bad and I haven't found you yet, make as much noise as possible." Roland said, taking deep breaths to steady his nerves as he felt the gears in the pads come to life, preparing to launch him upward.

Ruby was going to respond, but was too late as she watched Roland shoot off into the sky, looking like a raven as he flew through the air, his cloak flapping in the wind. Ruby followed moments after, feeling the air rush against her face as the pad shot her up. She tried to stay focused on Roland, but he eventually disappeared below the trees, and Ruby saw that she overshot him by a large amount. She turned her focus back to the situation at hand, finding a suitable tree and hooking her scythe around one of the branches, circling a few times before retracting the blade and hitting the ground.

She was preparing to go find Roland until his words echoed in her mind. _Do not try to find me._ Ruby was unhappy about it, but she told herself that Roland knew what he was doing, and so she headed in the opposite direction. From what she had seen during her flight, this direction would lead her to the center of the forest. Why Roland told her to go there she had no idea, but she figured that doing what he had told her was the best way of finding him. Plus, she really didn't have anywhere else to go.

Roland hit the ground, causing a small crater to form as his fist hit the soft earth, throwing up dust in all directions. He stood up slowly, making sure he hadn't harmed himself, and after making sure that he was unscathed, he activated the visors main function. The green and brown surrounding him was suddenly overtaken by a wave of red, turning his view the same color. All the trees turned transparent, and Roland slowly turned his head, looking in all directions. A few red outlines of beowulfs and ursa were the only thing he saw.

Roland sighed as he deactivated the visor, his vision returning to normal as the metal collapsed back down into the ear pieces. "Alright, lets get this over with." He said to himself, starting to climb a nearby tree. In seconds he was at the very top, looking out at the massive area of green before him. Behind him was the cliff where they had been launched, and Roland used that as a landmark, and started to head for the center of the forest. He chose to stay in the trees, jumping from branch to branch as he glided through the forest, avoiding any and all encounters that would slow him down.

He was taking a minute to rest and scan his surroundings when he heard gunshots. He snapped his head around, the visor extending and going into a different mode, this time sending a wave of green over his vision as a large number of outlines came into view through the now transparent trees. He found what he was looking for, a small body darting back and forth between crowds of grimm, wielding a scythe. He changed visor modes again, setting a lock on Ruby's outline as a wave of blue past over his eyes. Like before, his surroundings changed to the same color, and a small box surrounded Ruby's distant form. A line of numbers appeared in the top right corner of his visor, mixing themselves like dice until they eventually settled, telling Roland that Ruby was almost two miles away.

Roland kept the visor active, dashing from tree to tree as he made his way towards Ruby, going as fast as he could. From what he could tell, there were a lot of grimm, far too many for the girl to handle on her own. The girl was a very talented fighter, Roland didn't doubt that, but everyone had their limits. Roland just hoped he could get there in time.

Ruby fired off another shot, cleaving a beowolf in two as she dodged an Ursa's claws. She didn't know what had happened. One moment she had been walking through the woods, everything seemingly calm, and the next she was surrounded by grimm. Attacks came from all directions as she did her best to fend off the increasing number of monsters. Everytime she killed one, another two seemed to take its place. But still Ruby fought, knowing that Roland would find her soon, knowing that everything was going to be fine, so long as she kept fighting.

Ruby kept going, killing any of the beasts that dared to come near her. She noticed that fewer and fewer were starting to run at her, and instead they were starting to build up around her, trapping her in a circle as she desperately fought for her life. She was running out of energy, her aura was getting weaker with every use of her semblance.

Finally, Ruby faltered. Her senses weakened, her arms heavy, she was unable to block an attack from an ursa, and the beast caught her across her left side. She was tossed to the side, flying through the air until her back hit a tree. Searing pain spread from her wound as she felt blood start to seep from the injury. She pressed her hands against the wound, trying to stem the blood flow as her vision started to get hazy. The beasts broke the circle and all stood in front of the wounded girl, all of them letting out snarls as they prepared to finish her off.

Ruby looked around for Crescent Rose, and after seeing her weapon laying on the ground, too far away for her to reach, she began to accept her fate. This was going to be the end for her, and there wasn't anything she could do to stop it. Memories of her life started to flicker through her mind, filling her fading vision as she thought about her life. She thought about Yang and how her older sister had always taken care of her. She thought about Weiss, remembering the first time the two met, the time Ruby earned the nickname Crater Face.

But Ruby was pulled away from the happy memories as the beast drew nearer, their snarls and roars filling her ears, reminding her that she would never again see her friends. She felt a tear run down her cheek as she accepted her fate. Hopefully her death wouldn't bring too much unhappiness. The girl could only watch as a beowolf lept into the air, reaching its arm back as it flew at her, ready to end the girl. Ruby closed her eyes, waiting for her life to end, her last thoughts being about what was going to happen to her after death.

But the hit never reached its destination. Instead, Ruby heard an ear splitting _Bang_ race through the air, and she slowly opened her eyes, looking in the direction of the sound. There stood Roland, holding a flintlock in one hand and a sword in the other. The blade was black, perfectly straight with only one end sharpened, the blade ending in a diagonal line. Ruby noticed that this was the white-handled sword, and made a note to ask Roland about his interesting color schemes later. Ruby then watched as Roland holstered the pistol and drew the other sword, this ones blade being white. But despite her desire to stay awake, the blood loss and exhaustion hit her like a train, and Ruby soon lost consciousness, her last sight being Roland, standing in a ready position, facing an army of grimm.

Roland stood, knees bent, weapons in hand as he prepared to fight. If he was going to save Ruby, he needed to finish this quickly. Roland deactivated the visor, letting his eyes take a moment to readjust to the unfiltered sunlight. Once he was ready, Roland dashed into the crowd of snarling monsters, spinning masterfully, every slice taking down at least one creature, if not two or sometimes three. He buried one of his swords in a beowolfs neck, then left the it there as he pulled out a pistol and blew an ursa's head to bits.

Roland continued to fight, barely breaking a sweat as he used his momentum to effortlessly fly through the air, taking out as many as he could in the shortest time possible. Roland quickly lost track of time, minutes being lost to him as he focused completely on the fight. None of the creatures could even get near him, much less land a hit, and after fighting for what felt like an eternity, the creatures slowly started to retreat, realizing that they were outmatched and that the boy was not worth the effort.

Roland was finishing off a beowulf in a particularly gruesome fashion when he realized that he now stood alone, all the other creatures running off, disappearing in the thick lines of trees. He looked around, seeing the carnage that lay before him. Heads, arms, legs, entire halfs of his enemies lay around him, staining the ground with their blood. But there was one trait that Roland hated more than anything, one thing that would never let him forget. All around him, the bodies slowly turned to ash, being carried away by the wind. He wished that he could be like a normal person and watch the bodies turn to rose petals, instead of this grey substance that always followed him. It reminded him that he was not like other people, that he was different, and he could never change that. A single word flicked through his mind, bringing back painful memories as Roland remembered what he was. _Monster_.

But Roland ignored the thoughts, remembering that Ruby still needed help, wherever she was now, and started searching for the girl. He found her in seconds, easily picking out her reconizable attire. She was leaned up against a tree, blood covering a hand that was pressed to her left side.

Roland sprinted to the girl, hoping that he still had time. Ruby was still breathing, but her breaths were shallow, and it was obvious that she wouldn't last much longer. Roland sighed as he knew what he was going to have to do. "Well, this is gonna sting like a bitch." He said, moving Ruby's hand out of the way and wincing slightly at the wound. Three lng claw marks spread across her side, steadily leaking blood. Roland prepared himself, then placed his own hand against the wound, pressing down slightly.

Roland began to focus, letting the world around him melt away as he focused completely on himself and Ruby. He channeled his emotions, exploring painful memories as he let the waves of anger and sadness wash over him, turning them into energy as he felt his aura strengthen. His hand was slowly surrounded by a thin layer of black, which started out transparent but slowly grew thicker and thicker, until it looked like Roland's hand was made of pure blackness. He slowly lifted his hand of Ruby's wound and watched as the darkness slowly came off his hand in small strands, stretching out and coming in contact with the wounded area. The strands slowly grew thicker and thicker, spreading out over the claw marks until the wound was covered in a layer of black.

The blood flow stopped almost immediately, and seconds later Ruby opened her eyes. She glanced up and saw Roland kneeling beside her, his face looking slightly pained as his hand continued to glow black. Then, Ruby felt something very, very strange, something that she had never felt before. The wound in her side started to close up at an alarming rate, the skin suddenly patching itself back together, the claw marks disappearing in a matter of seconds, replaced by a fresh layer of skin. Ruby was amazed, but amazement was quickly replaced by worry as Roland nearly collapsed, the black glow on his hand dissipating, and Ruby sat up and tried to catch him.

"Roland? Roland, are you okay?" Ruby felt a little panicked as she spoke, but Roland relieved some of her worry as he sat on his knees, giving her a wave.

"Just…. Give me…. a second…." He placed a hand over his own side as he spoke, and Ruby saw a stain of red spread over the fabric over the area. Her mind was racing, she couldn't figure out what to do and she didn't even know what happened. She watched as a black cloud covered the area, and fell back in fear as Roland let out a yell of pain, his voice echoing through the forest even after he ceased his cry.

"R-Roland? A-are you a-alright?" Ruby felt her voice start to fail her. Whatever Roland had done, it was hurting him, and very badly at that. Roland, who had fallen forward again, now pushed himself up, all his strength going towards healing the wound at his side.

"I'll be fine…. Don't worry about me…" His words still had some strength and energy in them, which relieved Ruby slightly.

"Roland, what did you d-do?" Ruby asked, wanting to help the boy but knowing that there was probably nothing she could do.

"Lets call it…. A trade…. I absorb the damage…. And you get fully healed…." Roland started to stand as he spoke, surprising Ruby considering how badly damaged he seemed to be. Ruby still didn't understand, but she could get answers later. RIght now she needed to get Roland to a safer place.

"I'm gonna need a more in-detail description later." Ruby said, rapping Roland's arm around her shoulders and helping the boy walk. Roland let out a deep laugh, the first that Ruby ever heard from him, which was followed by multiple coughs.

"Lets just say…. I'm more than meets the eye…."


	5. Chapter 5: Secrets

Ruby refused to let Roland walk on his own, despite the boy's constant demands to be let go. Each time Ruby let him try to stand alone, he had nearly collapsed again, therefor she had no intention to let him go until she was sure that he could keep himself upright.

Despite their efforts to move quickly, both the kids knew that they were losing time, which was one thing that they could not run out of. But even with Roland's willpower and refusal to stop a rest, the sun eventually began to set, turning the entire forest orange as its light began to fade. Ruby felt small amounts of panic start to build up as she thought about having to spend the night in the forest. Where had all their time gone? It seemed like just moments ago they had been standing on the cliff, both eager to complete their task. But now, the sun was fading, causing the forest to gradually get darker and darker until they were forced to stop moving.

Ruby helped Roland sit down, leaning him against a tree before sitting beside him. The cloud of black that had covered his left side was much smaller now, covering an area that had to be less than a quarter of its previous size. Roland also seemed much stronger, and Ruby had noticed that he had been leaning against her less and less when they had been walking. He had gone back to his regular attitude, seemingly calm and unphased by his surroundings.

Roland activated his visor, flicking through the modes until he eventually found the one he was looking for. The world was outlined in black as a multitude of stats began to pop up before Roland's eyes. It told him the temperature, estimated weather, and estimated time for the sun to rise. Roland was relieved to see that it would be a relatively warm, and rain free, night. He flipped through visor modes again, waiting until the world turned red, then scanned the surrounding area. Another wave of relief washed over him as he could see no signs of grimm anywhere, which meant that it should be a safe night as well.

Roland stood, having to calm down Ruby, who demanded that he stay seated to prevent further harm. After eventually convincing the girl that he would actually be able to stand this time, he set about gathering firewood. It was rather for the sake of having a fire than it was for the heat, as he could see Ruby becoming unsettled as the light faded rapidly.

After a few swings of his swords he had gathered a good amount of wood, and now brought it all back to where Ruby was still seated against a tree. She watched as he tossed the firewood aside, selecting a few skinny sticks and starting to turn them into small, fine shavings with his blades. Ruby had no idea what she could do to help, and after feeling the exhaustion start to take its effect on her, she decided that the best course of action was to stay out of the way and let Roland finish with whatever it was he was doing.

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Roland noticed Ruby dozing off slowly, unable to hold back a smirk as he watched the small girl's head fall to the side, suddenly jerk back up, and then repeat the process until she finally fell asleep. He decided that it was for the best to just leave her be. The girl needed some rest, and after all, it was the least he could do after she basically carried him for who knows how long. So, he turned his attention back to turning the thing sticks into tiny shavings, making them as small as he possibly could.

After a good twenty minutes of carving, Roland finally felt satisfied with his little bundle of firestarter. He carefully built a pyramid shape out of the larger logs, and scooped the wood shavings inside hos knew structure. After double checking that the structure wasn't going to fall over, he drew one of his pistols, making sure it was unloaded, and placed the firing mechanism as close to the shavings as he could without knocking over the bigger pieces of wood. Roland hoped that his plan would work, and pulled the trigger, the empty pistol producing a large number of sparks as the hammer fell.

Smoke started to rise from the small pile of shavings almost immediately, and Roland set about adding small twigs, watching as the flame spread, blowing in some spots to make sure the flames burned equally. Once he was satisfied, he sat next to Ruby again, letting his head rest against the tree as he rubbed his left side. It had been hours, two at the least, and the wound was almost healed. The area was still sore, and stung whenever Roland tried to touch it, but he wasn't complaining. He'd rather have this than be in his previous condition.

But unlike Ruby, Roland wasn't tired, not yet at least. So he stayed awake, watching the flames as they consumed the pieces of wood, silently keeping watch over Ruby, making sure no harm came to the girl. The sun's light soon left, casting the forest into complete darkness, the only noticeable sight being the small fire that illuminated the area around Roland. He occasionally activated his visor, looking around and making sure no grimm were getting too close. Much to his surprise, any creatures that came even remotely close to their makeshift camp left almost immediately. Roland had never met a grimm who turned down a fight, but he thought nothing of it. So long as they left him alone, he had no intentions to get into another fight. Not yet, at least.

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Ozpin had his eyes glued to his scroll when Glenda walked over. The man had barely taken his eyes off the thing since the initiation began, watching the two walk through the forest like a mother bird watches over its eggs.

By this time, most the students had left the bleachers, all of them talking about what they had just seen. None of them had ever seen or heard of a type of healing like Roland had, and most of them didn't really know what to think or how to feel about it.

Only the three from RWBY and all of JNPR remained, all of them concerned for the pairs safety, although they cared mostly for Ruby. None of them had actually met Roland, they had only seen him a few times in the hallways. Most of them had trusted the boy to take care of Ruby, but no one expected him to go that far, and now they all had a new respect for him. The kids were all tired, but none of them even thought about leaving, mainly because they weren't sure if Yang would let them. The blond had nearly had a heart attack when Ruby had been hurt, and Blake was forced to hold the brawler down so she didn't go charging into the forest.

Glenda had been thinking about asking Ozpin her questions or just letting the matter drop, and had eventually decided that enough was enough. Ozpin normally told her almost everything, yet she knew next to nothing about this strange boy. Now, she wanted answers, and she wasn't going to deal with Ozpin dodging her questions any longer.

"Don't you think it was a little cruel to not give the boy a team? No one has ever managed to pass while working alone, and this boy has great potential. We have plenty of spots open, and I think it would be for the best if we gave him some people to work with." Glenda said, making sure she had Ozpin's attention as she spoke. This was only one of her many questions, but she figured it was a good place to start.

"I have my reasons. Putting Roland in a team right away would have been a mistake, as his teammates would have isolated and rejected him. We will introduce others to him slowly, making sure they adjust properly and accept him. After this, I intend to give him a partner of his own, then wait a while longer." Ozpin responded, turning his attention from his scroll to Glenda for a short time. The huntress' confusion only grew with Ozpin's answer.

"What do you mean people would reject him?" She asked, remembering a few select occasions where students refused to work with one another and eventually refused to do anything with the other person.

"Roland is a very complicated individual, and despite his strength, he needs someone to take care of him. Physically and mentally, that boy is basically unstoppable. But his past has made for an emotionally scarred person, and therefore, he needs someone with the patience and determination to deal with and eventually heal someone like him." Ozpin looked back at his scroll, leaving Glenda feeling conflicted and even more confused, if that was possible.

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Ruby awoke suddenly, rubbing her eyes groggily as she stretched out her stiffened muscles. For a moment she panicked, not recognizing the dark green surroundings, but her memory soon returned, reminding her of the days events. The girl looked around, realizing that Roland was nowhere in sight, and felt panic start to build up again. She stood up as fast as she could, and was getting ready to call out his name when she saw him drop from a tree about twenty feet away. Ruby let out a sigh of relief as she relaxed a little, Roland looking like his injury didn't bother him anymore as he walked over to her.

"Well look whos finally up. Sleep well?" He asked, grabbing an armful of logs and carefully adding them to the fire, which had started to die down as it ran out of fuel.

"Well, I've always like camping, so I guess it isn't that bad." Ruby let out a yawn as she spoke, sitting down and letting her eyes close again as Roland joined her. The boy let out a long sigh as the heat from the fire brought relief to his tired muscles. Ruby had been sleeping for two hours, or at least thats what his visor had told him. Roland usually didn't trust technology, or anything besides himself for that matter, but the device had never failed him before.

"Did you go camping when you were younger?" Ruby's question surprised Roland. For what reason, he did not know. It might have been because very few people asked about his past, or maybe because he just wasn't expecting a question, but either way it took him by surprise. 

"Oh, well, I uh…. I haven't gone _camping, _per say, but I've slept under the stars plenty of times." He said, letting his mind wonder, recalling the multiple nights he spent sleeping in the wilderness. Ruby, unable to contain her curiosity, decided that a few questions wouldn't hurt.

"What do you mean by that?" She said, hearing Roland let out a soft sigh. She was getting ready to apologize, thinking that she might have offended him, but he responded before she had the chance.

"Well, I normally hate doing this, but something about you makes me think you're trustworthy, and you've been kind to me in the past week. So, I suppose telling you about my past would probably be for the best." He said, sitting up and flipping his hood down, something Ruby had seen him rarely do. Ruby had been wondering about the boy's past, and something deep inside her told her that this tale wasn't going to be a happy one.

"I'm an orphan, lets get that out of the way now. My parents died just after I was born. From what I've been told, I wasn't even a year old. I lived in an orphanage for my entire life, and it wasn't a pleasant time, let me tell you. Everyone excluded me simply for being me, even the adults treated me terribly, and so I ran away very often, which is why I've slept under the stars plenty. Normally they caught me and dragged me back, until one day I fought back. Ever since I was around ten, I had been training in combat. Without them knowing, I had picked out teachers that had been willing to teach me and I trained with them whenever I could. I never went to one of the bigger schools, like Signal, but I wanted more than anyone else. Then, when I was fifteen, I discovered a whole host of things that would change my life." Roland stopped to gather his thoughts, which gave Ruby time to process the information. She quickly realized that she knew next to nothing about the boy, and the fact that he was an orphan surprised her slightly. But before she could think anymore, Roland started again."

"For starters, I learned that my parents had been wealthy individuals, and because of this, I had a very large sum of money in a locked bank account. I went out and bought my weapons and combat clothes immediately, and started forging a plan. In under a week I was gone again, and this time, I wasn't going back. They tried to take me again, and all I had to do was take out a single sword to send them all running. For a long time I lived in the woods, then eventually I got back into school. I focused completely on combat, didn't give a damn about grades. Adults were the only ones I trusted, as anybody my age seemed to exclude instinctively. There were only two teachers I trusted, and both of those taught me everything I know. Later, I was contacted by Ozpin, and invited to go here. I didn't know why, or how he even knew who I was, but I accepted. So now, here I am." He said, finishing his tale. Ruby let it sink in, but she knew that he was leaving out some of the finer details.

"Why did people treat you like that?" She asked, wanting to know why people avoided Roland. He seemed like a nice person once you got to know him.

"Well, I may have left something out. My semblance is very…. Special. It's called The Heart of Darkness, and it's incredibly rare." He said, seeming to shrink slightly as he talked about the subject. Ruby didn't even know that such a thing existed.

"Well, what is it?" She asked, desiring to know more.

"Scary, thats what it is. It's also called the rarest semblance, as there are only twelve known people that have possessed it throughout history. Basically, imagine your older sisters semblance, but on a much darker and much more powerful scale." He said, trying to make it easier for the girl to understand. Ruby thought about what Yang was capable of when her eyes went red, and the thought of something worse than that sent a shiver down her spine.

"Its activated by emotions, mainly anger and sadness. What happens is my body gets engulfed by flames, but their black. Everything about this thing is concentrated on darkness, and even my eyes turn completely black. I can move at inhuman speeds, and cause massive amounts of destruction. I once used it on a pack of grimm, and I nearly took out the entire forest, which was almost the same size as this one. Its hard to control, and once I go into that state, I'm not myself anymore. I kill anything that gets in my way, human and beast alike. Its the reason I get isolated, and the reason I isolate myself. I nearly killed a lot of people once because I couldn't control myself, and so I keep social interactions to a minimal. I don't want to hurt people anymore." Roland said, letting a hand go over his face in an attempt to relieve stress.

Ruby managed to understand fairly easily, but she knew that Roland wasn't the kind of person to hurt others on purpose. She gave the boy a smile and placed a hand on his shoulder, hoping to ease his mind.

"Well don't you worry, you've got friends now, and the past is behind you. Even though I don't fully understand this thing, I believe that you can control it. Theres no need to be afraid anymore." She said. Roland seemed to ease at her words slightly, but his eyes still had that same cautious look to them.

"Maybe…. Maybe…. But now that you've had a story, time to go to bed. Tomorrow is a big day, and you need your strength. So get some rest, I'll take first watch." He said, standing up and cracking his neck and knuckles. Ruby, despite not feeling tired considering she had just woken up, obeyed, figuring that it would be much easier to just do as Roland said rather than try to argue.

"Fine, but wake me up the moment you feel sleepy. You need sleep just as much as I do." She said, finding the softest clump of grass she could and laying down, seeing Roland give her a small nod, then watching him climb a tree, disappearing into the dark branches almost immediately. Ruby felt her eyes begin to droop as her mind started to wonder. She saw Roland appear in the very top of the tree, his body silhouetted against the full moon that was positioned directly behind him.

"You aren't as bad as you think." She said, knowing that he wouldn't hear her but not caring. She had always been told that it was the thought that counts anyway.


	6. Chapter 6: Monsters and Demons

The sun started to rise, sending burst of oranges and reds across the sky as the night came to an end. Ruby woke due to the bright light shining on her closed eyes, her arms and legs feeling sore after sleeping on the ground. Ruby stood up and stretched out, feeling her back pop a few times as she twisted side to side. Roland wasn't around, but Ruby figured he would probably drop from a tree soon enough, getting use to the boy's tendency to disappear and reappear without warning. The fire had died out, now nothing more than a pile of ash, which was being slowly dragged away by the wind. Ruby, having nothing else to do, started looking over Crescent Rose, making sure the weapon was still functioning after the fight.

Roland returned after about ten minutes, holding armfuls of what appeared to be fruit. He walked over to Ruby and set the variation of food down beside her, then sat down and started to eat an apple. After hearing her stomach growl, Ruby decided to eat first, then ask about where Roland had gotten the food from. She didn't realize how hungry she was until she bit into an apple, and started consuming food at an increasing pace.

"Slow down speed racer, I don't need you throwing half that up cause you ate too fast." Roland said, watching with amusement as Ruby shoveled down the fruit. After hearing his words, the girl realized that she might have eaten a little too frantically.

"Hehe, sorry, I get hungry." She said, now calmly eating an orange as she tried to seem a bit more civilized. Ruby noticed that Roland was starting to act like a completely different person now. Before he had seemed cold, calculating and mean, someone who was always very serious and didn't partake in fun activities. But now, he seemed relaxed, almost happy as they sat in the woods. His shoulders slumped and he looked at the sunrise with a peaceful gleam in his eye, much better than the cold, cautious stare the green orbs usually sported.

"Why are you are different when you're out here?" Ruby suddenly asked, not even thinking about the question. Roland's face turned to one of thought, then returned to its previously peaceful look as he gave a shrug.

"Very good question. I suppose it's because there are no people out here, and so just about all my worries are no longer relevant. To be honest, in most cases I would rather have a tree than a person, cause trees can't be mean to you, or exclude you." He said, adjusting some of the straps going across his chest.

The answer didn't really help Ruby to understand, but she accepted it anyway. She found that the every time she asked Roland a question he did little more than increase Ruby's confusion. So, the girl decided to end her stream of questions and continue eating. There would be plenty of time for questions and answers later, but for now, Ruby was still hungry.

* * *

The two continued to sit there until the sun had fully risen over the horizon, the orb going from bright orange to its usual yellow as it climbed higher in the sky. Once Roland was sure Ruby was finished and had regained all her energy he checked their location on more time by climbing up a tree, then the two set off in the proper direction.

Roland led the way, activating his visor now and then to check the area for Grimm. Barely any Grimm were picked up, little more than the odd Beowulf or pair of Ursa. Roland couldn't help but feel worried at the sudden lack of creatures. The forest shouldn't be this empty, and the lack of Grimm here meant that they were all somewhere else, probably together.

Ruby on the other hand welcomed the lack of monsters. The faster she could get out and back to her friends the better. Once she got back she intended to introduce them all to Roland, as no one else had made any real attempts to be friends with the boy. She was sure that they would all get along, and maybe Roland and Blake could help each with their pasts. The faunas girl should know better than anyone what it feels like to be treated terribly because of what you were, and so maybe she could help Roland.

"Hey Roland?" Ruby said, a question suddenly popping into her mind as the two walked along.

"Yeah?" He said, turning around to face her, now walking backwards and somehow managing to not trip.

"I just realized, I don't even know your last name." She said, thinking about the fact that she had never heard someone use the boy's last name.

"Oh, yeah, about that…. How should I word this…. I don't actually have a last name." He said, correctly predicting the question Ruby was going to ask next.

"What? What do you mean? Everyone has a last name." She said, not understanding how someone couldn't have a last name. It didn't make any sense.

"Not me. It all has to do with my parents death. My parents worked as a hunter-huntress team, one of the best actually. They never used their names, and I mean never, even in regular society, and they were only known as _Team Six. _After I was born, they were retiring, but went on one last mission, which is when they died. I guess it was their last mission in a way. But, due to them dying, no one knew their names, and so I was never given a last name. I've considered giving myself one, but I've yet to find a good one." He said, feeling uncomfortable as he talked. His lack of a last name was one of the things that had caused him to be made fun of so often, earning him the title _no name. _

"Oh…." Was the only reply Ruby gave. She felt bad about forcing Roland to bring up unhappy memories, wishing she could control her curiosity and stop asking questions. The girl knew that bringing up these thoughts couldn't be pleasant for Roland, and from that point on kept her mouth shut, not wanting to make him depressed. The rest of their walk was spent in silence.

* * *

The sun was in the dead center if the sky when they arrived at a massive clearing. The trees stopped as if there was an invisible wall, leaving a massive circular space stretching out in front of the two. In the center rest a small, circular building, covered in vines as the stone walls cracked and fell apart, making the structure look hundred of years old.

Roland did not hesitate and entered the building straight away, followed by a slightly timid Ruby, who was worried about the roof collapsing at any moment. The building was completely empty except for a single pillar in the middle. The only light came from holes in the domed ceiling and crumbling walls, giving the space a dim glow as Roland headed for the pillar, climbing over piles of debris as he went.

The boy soon stood before the pillar, staring at the small blue sphere that sat on top of the stone. It was made from some strange rock, the deep blue seeming to go on forever, making for a very mesmerizing and enticing sight. Ruby joined him seconds later, also being captivated by the strange beauty of the sphere.

"Is that it?" She asked, wondering if it was safe to take it. Her question was answered when Roland picked it up suddenly, holding it in one hand as he ran his fingers over the smooth surface.

"This is it alright. Now we just have to wait for the hard part." He said, offering the object to Ruby as he began to look around. The girl took the sphere, nearly dropping it after she realized that it was much heavier than it seemed.

"What do you mean _the hard part_?" She asked, giving the glassy sphere back to Roland after she was finished looking at it.

"There is no way Ozpin would make it this easy." Roland said, peering through one of the smaller holes in the wall, scanning the clearing outside for anything abnormal. A sudden howl filled the air, followed by many more as though they had been cued by Roland's words.

Ruby found her own hole in the wall and watched as swarms of Grimm poured out of the trees, turning the green clearing black as they filled the field around them. Ruby instinctively took out Crescent Rose, unfolding the scythe and preparing for a fight. Roland unsheathed both his swords and did the same, flipping up his hood and preparing to exit the building. Just before leaping into the fray, Roland quickly pulled out his scroll and typed something in, then slid it back into its pouch on his belt.

"They'll be here to pick us up soon. Ruby, focus on defence here. We're trying to survive, not actually fight." Roland said,giving his swords a few test swings. Ruby gave him a small nod, understanding what he meant, then fired off a shot, launching herself into the fray. She had considered staying in the building, but after seeing its lack of structural security and space, decided that it would be more of a hinderance.

Roland followed her, jumping into the swarm of Grimm before him. Without a second thought he went on the offensive, using his speed and agility to take down enemy after enemy, darting around, moving continuously, using precise slices to keep himself from harm. He refrained from using his pistols at the moment, not wanting to waste a single shot. The flintlocks had incredible power, much more than any of the modern-day guns that most people use, but only had one shot, which could mean the difference between victory and being eaten.

Ruby was handling herself fairly well, determined to keep herself from harm this time. She fired of round after round, dismembering anything that got within her scythe's reach. For a good while things were going fine, Ruby barely breaking a sweat as she easily fought off the advancing horde of Grimm, occasionally looking for Roland and seeing the boy doing just as well if not better, his blades turning into blurs of black and white as he took down foe after foe.

But the creatures weren't thinning out like before. This time they kept coming, unphased by the number of bodies that littered the ground around them. Ruby and Roland fought on, both wondering how much longer it would be until help arrived.

After fighting for what felt like an eternity, the two started to falter. Ruby's swings started to become slower and heavier, her ammo running low as she jammed another clip into Crescent Rose and fired off another storm of bullets, watching as the bodies dropped, their blood slowly turning the previously peaceful clearing into a scene of blood and violence. Roland was starting to move slower, and only now did he fire off one of his guns. The bullet ripped through multiple targets, taking off heads and arms as it raced through the air, unwilling to stop no matter how many times it hit a body.

Ruby was the first to go down, feeling a wound open up on her left shoulder, then another on the inside of her right thigh. Something then hit her in the back, causing her to be tossed through the air like a rag doll, slamming into the hard ground as she clutched her shoulder.

Roland saw Ruby get hit, and let his guard drop as he started to run towards the area where she had landed. A Beowulf caught him across the back, its claws tearing through skin and leaving four deep gashes going from his shoulder blades to his lower back. But Roland, fuelled by adrenaline and willpower, shrugged off the injury, not caring about the blood that slowly drenched his back.

His previous state of focus and calm was gone, now replaced by ferocity as he wildly slashed, cutting through the crowd of creatures as he made his way to Ruby. Once he made it to her, the beasts started to form a circle around them, just like they had done during their last attack. Roland stuck his swords into the ground, then held Ruby in his arms, trying to keep the girl conscious as the Grimm slowly came closer and closer, ignoring the bodies of their dead brethren.

"Ruby, Ruby I need you to stay awake." Roland said, shaking the girl slightly as he tried to keep her eyes from closing.

Ruby tried to talk, to reassure Roland, but started coughing when she tried to talk, and small stream of blood starting to leak from the corner of her mouth.

Roland knew what was going to have to happen, but that didn't make it any easier. He looked up, watching the Grimm inch closer, feeling sick and tired of the annoying beasts. He set Ruby down softly, brushing the hair out of her face and dreading what he was about to do. "Sorry if I get a little scary here, but I don't have much of a choice. Stay safe Red." He said, standing up and beginning to focus.

He channeled his emotions, finding the most painful memories possible and forcing himself to relieve them. The sadness and depression that was always with him changed to anger, hatred, rage as he felt the darkness grow satisfied at being let out.

From the ground, Ruby watched Roland's body start to be surrounded by a layer of black. A sudden burst of energy went out, forcing Ruby's head down as she felt herself get pushed back a little. When she opened her eyes again, Roland was engulfed by black flames, his normally emerald-green eyes turned black, making him seem like a demon. His swords were covered in flames as well, seeming to emit pure darkness as Roland stood, facing the army of Grimm that surrounded him.

Then, he was gone. Like teleportation, one moment Roland stood, covered in darkness, and the next he was gone. Suddenly, a massive section of creatures to Ruby's left explodes into ash, the grey material nearly blocking out the sun as it launched into the air. Then, another section did the same, and another section, until the blue sky turned grey and dark with the remains of the monsters who were foolish enough to bring out this terrible power.

Roland suddenly reappeared in front of Ruby, standing perfectly still as the ranks of Grimm were replaced almost immediately. For the entire time, Ruby had yet to feel fear, even as she had watched Roland turn hundreds of creatures to ash. But when Roland spoke, it was one of the most horrifying things Ruby had ever gone through.

"You should have run away." His voice was not his own, but instead was the voice of many. Hundreds of men, women and children said the words at once, their voices echoing in Ruby's ears as she felt like they were drilling into her brain.

Then, Roland winded back his fist, and without any hesitation, punched the ground with earth shattering force. A massive ball of black suddenly raced out, stretching over the entire clearing and beyond, turning everything to ash. Then, it collapsed down on Roland, momentarily locking the boy in a sphere of black, and then, it left.

Ruby was unscathed, and in fact, was healed completely. She sat up slowly, looking around at the previously green clearing. The grass was dead, every last blade turned brown as it died. The trees were devoid of all leaves, their trunks going from a healthy brown to a withering black, and the sky was still grey from the ashes.

Roland was kneeling, fist still planted against the ground. He was in the middle of a small crater, small flames of black still rising up from the ground. Ruby saw the his shoulder and thigh had started to bleed, realizing that he had again absorbed her wounds at the cost of his own well-being. But before Ruby could even stand up Roland fell to the side, laying on the ground, unmoving. Ruby scrambled over to him, rolling the boy in his back and trying to see if he was still alive.

"R-Roland? Y-you're o-o-okay, right?" She said, starting to worry more and more as Roland's chest stayed still, his body remaining limp. "Roland? Roland, get up, come on. Roland come on, you gotta get up, don't do this." Ruby eyesight started to go fuzzy as Roland still remained still. She was about to speak again when his eyes suddenly opened, returning to their natural green color.

"Calm down Ruby…. I'm not going down that easily…." He said, his voice weak and sounding strained as he fought to stay conscious.

Just as Ruby started to calm down, she heard the familiar noise of roaring engines in the distance. "Hey Roland, hear that? They're almost here. Its gonna be alright. Everything is gonna be alright." She said, feeling relieved that this was finally over. Ozpin had better get ready, because Ruby was going to let loose the gates of hell on him the next time they met, and the girl knew that Roland was going to be displeased, to say the least. But for now, she let herself relax a little. They had done it.

They had won.

**A small note: **

**- After I get past chapter 10 I'm probably gonna slow down a bit, as I want to start writing fanfics without Roland in them. It's probably gonna slowly decrease until I'm putting out a chapter a week, but no slower than that. **

**So, I hope you guys are still enjoying, and thank you all for reading. Feel free to leave any questions/comments/complaints you have, and, you can now send me emails at Roland127 **_  
_

**Don't hesitate with anything you want to say, cause like I've said, I love reading what other people have to say about my work. **


	7. Chapter 7: New beginnings

** Hey guys. Sorry this one took an extra day, but there's been some stuff going on. But hey, I managed to get it out fairly soon. This one is a little short, but I hope you guys enjoy. **

Ruby refused to let anybody help her until Roland was taken care of. Paramedic rushed to her, asking if she was alright and insisting that she lay down, or get into the airship at the very least. But Ruby, being as stubborn as she always was, refused to leave Roland's side, and only got into the ship once he was loaded in on a stretcher.

Roland lost consciousness quickly, the mix of injuries and exhaustion from using his semblance being too much for the boy. The last thing he saw before his world went black was Ruby, refusing the help of those around her, commanding them to help Roland first.

The ride back to Beacon was filled with an unnecessary amount of noise, as most the paramedics were panicking due to the fact that Roland's body was resisting their healing. Every time a healer tried to use their semblance in the boy a thin layer of black surrounded him like a shield, making it impossible to touch him. Then panic turned to confusion as Roland started to heal at an alarming rate, a smoke like substance rising off his wounds, stopping the blood and patching up the damage.

Ruby, along with everyone else in the airship, could do little more than watch as Roland's body was restored in a matter of seconds. When they tried to check his back, it was completely healed as well, massive scars taking the place of the previously devastating wounds. Most his clothes were still stained in blood, most of which didn't belong to him, and turned the material into a black-red mixture, giving him a slightly sinister appearance.

Ruby was the only one that stayed close to him. The others had been scared off by Roland's healing or had decided that there was nothing left for them to do. Occasionally someone would approach the girl in the red cloak, asking if she was hurt or if she needed anything, and would only receive a short "No" or be ignored completely.

The ride back was short, but felt like an eternity for Ruby, who still didn't know if Roland would survive. His injuries may have healed, the speed at which they did so scaring Ruby slightly, but if he was alright, shouldn't he have woken up? Her mind raced, her body still producing small amounts of adrenaline, but she was soon forced to leave Roland as they arrived at the school, watching the boy get carried away on a stretcher. Ruby wanted to go with the boy, continue to watch over him and make sure that he would recover, but they made her stay, refusing her pleas to go with the boy.

The moment Roland was out of Ruby's sight she started looking for her team. Yang was probably having a heart attack, and Weiss couldn't be doing much better.

* * *

Ozpin felt satisfied. His plan had worked, and now, Roland would have no problem making a name for himself. Word of his power would spread like wildfire, and within weeks he could easily match if not surpass the skill of his parents. There was the problem of the forest, which had suffered massive amounts of damage when Roland had used his semblance, but it would heal over time.

For now, the forest had a massive scare, a very noticeable chunk being reduced to ash, leaving a massive grey circle in the sea of green that would be seen from anywhere in the school. Roland would be unhappy, especially if he found out that Ozpin planned this out. The boy hated his power, but with practice and training, he could easily find the strength to control it.

But those were problems for the future, not the present. At the moment, Ozpin had to focus on finding the boy a suitable partner. He would give Roland a team of his own, introducing him to new people one at a time. He knew that Roland did better when he was alone, and adding people would only further decrease his performance. So to counteract that, he would let the boy slowly adapt and adjust to having others around, and he was confident that they would be one of the best teams ever put together.

Now all Ozpin had to do was choose who to send in first.

* * *

"You dunce! You could've died out there! What were you thinking?" Weiss had wasted no time scolding Ruby the moment she had made sure her girlfriend was unharmed. Everyone had been incredibly relieved when they had seen Ruby again, their swarm of hugs followed quickly by an army of questions. All of them wanted to know about Roland, and what it was that they had just seen. The white screen was still sitting by the cliff, now blank after the camera had stopped providing footage. Most the people had returned in the morning to see how things would end, and after seeing Roland absolutely annihilate so much of the forest, everyone was confused beyond all comprehension.

"Calm down Weiss, I'm fine now aren't I?" Ruby said, smirking at the sight of her flustered girlfriend, whose cheeks turned as red as Ruby's cloak when the brunette placed a kiss on her soft lips.

"Well, where's what's his name? I've got some thanking to do." Yang said, interrupting the slight moment that Ruby and Weiss were having. Yang's thank you normally consisted of bone-crushing bear hugs, followed by a speech about how grateful she was. Ruby actually debated not telling her sister where Roland was being kept, thinking that Yang crushing him with gratitude probably wasn't going to help him get better anytime soon.

"Follow me, he's in the medical building." Ruby said, deciding that a little affection wouldn't hurt him too much. Nothing that Roland couldn't handle at least.

* * *

Four sets of shoes sent echoing clicks down the empty hallways, only interrupted by the odd nurse or doctor stepping out from one of the doors that lined the wall. No one talked, as there was nothing to talk about. The group followed their leader, noticing that her already brisk walking speed was steadily increasing, to the point where the girl was nearly jogging down the hallways, searching for the room that held her friend.

_297...98...299… _Ruby counted out the numbers in her mind, then stopped suddenly, causing her teammates to stumble a bit as they avoided running into her. She stood in front of a door, identical to every other door in the hallway, save the number _300_, engraved on a piece of bronze that was in the dead center of the door.

Ruby suddenly felt very, very scared. What if she walked in and Roland _wasn't _okay? What if he didn't make it? What if Ruby was the reason that he died? The brunettes previous confidence melted away, leaving the girl staring wide-eyed at the door, wondering if she should go in or turn around and leave the boy be. She was about to turn away, now unable to face him for reasons that she couldn't explain, but she felt a hand grasp hers, felt fingers intertwine with her own. Ruby looked to the side, seeing Weiss standing at her side, her ice blue eyes filled with understanding as she looked at Ruby.

Unexpectedly, Weiss was the one to step into the room first, still holding on to Ruby's hand as she walked into the room, leading the timid girl. Blake and Yang followed, both worried for Roland well, despite barely knowing him. Everyone had noticed that Roland's behavior changed drastically when people were in danger. The boy who was normally silent, cold, having a heart that seemed to be made of stone, turned into a different person altogether. He had charged in without hesitation when Ruby was injured the first time, completely ignoring the threat of losing his own life and saving hers. Then he had willingly accepted her wounds, her mistakes, just to secure her well-being.

Roland should have died in that forest, everyone knew that. Had his semblance not produced those strange tentacle-like strands, not healed him at a rate that defied everything the paramedics thought they knew, Roland would be dead. These thoughts invaded Ruby's mind, making the girl curse herself as she couldn't help feeling guilty, knowing that it was unfair for Roland to be in this condition when Ruby was the one who had been injured not once, but twice while on a mission.

The state that Roland was in didn't do much ease Ruby's mind. He was still unconscious, hooked up to a variety of machines that had glowing monitors, filled with numbers and charts that none of the four understood. Roland was laying in bed, wearing a hospital gown that really didn't suit him, and even when unconscious he still seemed cautious. Unlike most people, Roland did not look peaceful when he slept. His back was rigid, arms straight at his side like he was standing at attention. His hands were in fists, and his face was one of caution and unhappiness, losing the more relaxed look that Ruby had grown accustomed to.

No one was sure of what to do, and so they all stood in dead silence, slightly stunned at the incredibly slow rate that Roland was breathing. The heart monitor let out slow beeps, and the girls felt that the small noises came a little too slowly. Despite his wounds being healed, Roland didn't seem to be any better than if they were still there.

Ruby squeezed Weiss' hand, feeling grief start to build up as a small tear fell down her cheek. She sniffled slightly, feeling Weiss squeeze, and told herself that Roland would wake up soon and be fine, going back to his normal, slightly intimidating self. "He's gonna be okay, right?" Ruby said, asking no one in particular. No one planned to respond, and all of them jumped back against the wall when Roland suddenly spoke.

"Didn't I tell you that I wasn't going to die _that _easily." He said, opening his eyes slightly, the green circles sporting a determined look.

Ruby was the first to recover from the sudden scare, and so was the first to speak. "Your current state suggest otherwise." She said, smirking at the boy as the tears left, along with the grief and sadness, replaced with happiness and joy at the sight of Roland moving again.

"Oh, does it now?" The boy suddenly sat up, confusing the girls as he seemed to shrug off the previous state of exhaustion. Not stopping there, Roland started ripping off the multiple patches of fabric that connected him to the machines. Everyone, even Yang, winced a little when Roland pulled out a needle that had been stuck into his arm, staring at the thin line of metal as he held it by the cord, which was apparently connected to the heart monitor as a long, dull beep filled the room.

"Oh, hm. Well, that's gonna cause a bit of excitement…" Roland said, now standing up, even after his visitors tried to get him to stay in bed. They all expected him to nearly collapse when he tried to stand, but instead he stood tall and proud, appearing to be at full strength. As though it was part of his everyday routine, he walked over to a closet that sat in the corner and began to rummage through it, withdrawing a folded up mass of black cloth, which the girls assumed to be his combat clothes.

It seemed like Roland was going to say something, but was cut off by a swarm of doctors and nurses that suddenly busted through the door. Most of them were freaking out, and they nearly lost it when they busted in to see an empty bed, the monitor still sending out a deep beep.

Roland, seeming more casual than anyone had ever seen him before, suddenly spoke up. "Ah, yes, sorry about the scare, but I'm ready to leave, so you do whatever it is you do, and I'll go change." The boy then walked out of the room, straight past the group of wide-eyed doctors who were so confused that they couldn't even speak. Ruby and her team felt the same way, and had no idea how to react to the fact that Roland had just unplugged himself from a number of medical machines, retrieved his clothes, then nonchalantly walked out of the room to change as if nothing had happened.

He returned surprisingly quickly, returning to a room so full of confusion that he could almost feel it in the air. The doctors still acted like they had seen the face of god, standing with their mouths open as their brains tried to comprehend what they had seen. No more than ten minutes ago the boy had been on the verge of what seemed like death, and now he was walking about as though he had just come back from a sunday stroll.

Roland ignored the doctors, squeezing past them as he turned his attention to the girls. "Well, shall we be off? I'm starting to get sick of this place." He said, his attitude slowly returning to the familiar style of displeasure.

The four girls could only nod and follow Roland out, all of them taking a moment to remember how to move their legs. The doctors watched them as the group walked through the hallways, led by the tall boy in all black, his cloak torn to shreds as it flowed in the small amount of wind produced by the boy's brisk pace.

"Uh, Roland? Are you sure you should be walking?" Yang asked, her mind still trying to piece together how Roland had even managed to open his eyes so soon.

"Or moving, for that matter?" Blake chimed in, her mind racing just the same as everyone elses. Roland paid them little attention, wanting to get back to his room and take a nap. He was still tired, and felt his eyelids get heavier with every step he took.

"I'm fine, don't worry. It's gonna take much more than a few scratches to keep me in a hospital bed." Roland responded, giving them a slight wave of his hand, hoping the gesture would be enough to reassure the group.

* * *

Roland went directly to his room, excited to feel the comfort of pitch-black darkness surround him while he relaxed in bed, not having to worry about the outside world as he would be left alone with his thoughts. It was the boy's favorite pass time, being able to live in different worlds through his imagination, letting his past melt away as he lived in his own reality. But today, that would not be the case.

The first thing Roland noticed was a change to his door. Before, a single _R _had been burned into the surface of the wood, and the _R _had stood alone and proud. But now, that _R _was joined by and _E,_ which made the boy angry at first, wondering who had messed with his belongings. His question was answered when he opened the door to see not only a new bed opposite to his own, but also a new person sitting on said bed.

The girl stood up suddenly when Roland entered, seeming slightly surprised at his sudden entry. The fact that she wore a set of fuzzy pajama bottoms and a tank top only further proved this. She had black hair, and a single purple highlight started at her bangs and traced all the way down her hair, ending where her hair rested on her shoulders. Her eyes were dark purple, seeming full of energy and mischief, and one of the most prominent features was the pair of cat ears that rested on her head, which were almost completely identical to Blake's.

But by far the most surprising thing to Roland was that the girl had not only faunas ears, but a tail as well. Roland had only heard of these faunas, remembering that they were incredibly rare, and there was some special name for them that Roland couldn't remember at the moment. But that could come later. For now, there was a much more important question he demanded to know.

"Who in the living hell are you?"

**Just same old same old, leave reviews/questions/comments if you have any, and thanks for reading. **


	8. Chapter 8:Yours and mine, you and me

"Oh, well… My name is Elisabeth." The girl was scared, among many other things. Ozpin had told her that the boy might seem scary, but the black outfit combined with the deep voice made for an intimidating first impression. His choice of words did help Elisabeth feel any better about her current situation.

"What are you doing in my room? And why is there another bed in here?" Roland knew the answers to both of his questions, but asked them anyway. Maybe there was just a misunderstanding, a mistake. He was supposed to be alone, that was the way things were suppose to be. He didn't need or want someone to live with him, as they would only get in his way. But he had to admit, the girl was absolutely stunning when it came to her physical appearance.

"Well, I'm your new partner, handpicked by Ozpin himself for the job." Elisabeth decided to put a bit more pride in her voice, knowing that being timid and scared wouldn't help her now. She watched as Roland let out and long sigh, walking over to his own bed a sitting down, flipping his hood back and running a hand through his hair.

"So Ozpin hand-picked you to be my partner, did he?" Roland said, unclasping his cloak and letting the tattered piece of fabric fall to the floor, deciding that he would just have to accept the change, knowing that arguing with Ozpin would get him nowhere.

"Yeah… He said that it would be easy for you to adjust to me being around." She responded, feeling her confidence grow as she thought that the boy might except her. After seeing Roland's capabilities in combat, Elisabeth wanted to get on the boy's good side, and being selected to be Roland's partner was an opportunity that she accepted without hesitation. Roland let out another sigh, but this one was calmer and more relaxed.

"Alright, alright. Well, I'm Roland, but you probably knew that. But I have rules, and if we are going to live together, they will be followed." He said, standing up and walking up to Elisabeth, making the girl realize how tall he was as she looked up at him.

"Rule one, if I tell you not to touch something, _don't touch it. _Two, I like it dark. Very, very dark in fact, so try to keep lighting to a minimum. Three, I can be a mean person. It's not on purpose, it's just how I am. So if I ever seem _cold-hearted_, per say, just realize that I probably have nothing against you, and I'm just being me. Understand?" He said, counting off the rules on his fingers. Elisabeth found that they weren't that bad, and to someone like her, were very understandable.

"Now, what are your rules?" Roland said suddenly, taking the girl by surprise.

"Oh, well, um…. I don't really have any…." She said, feeling slightly embarrassed for no reason in particular. Roland crossed his arms across his chest and nodded.

"Well then, now that we've gotten that out-of-the-way, I'm going to take a shower and then make some food. Don't touch anything that's mine, especially the weapons. If you haven't already seen, I don't use the dresser, so the thing is all yours." With that, Roland turned around, retrieved a stack of clothes from the closet, and entered the bathroom without another word, leaving Elisabeth to think about their first encounter.

The boy was different, as she had been told to expect, but she had assumed that it would be the bad kind, the kind that made you want to avoid the person at all costs. But he didn't seem all that bad to Elisabeth. He might be a little mean, but she was warned about that too, and she was sure that he would soften up eventually.

For now, Elisabeth would probably let him continue on with his act, knowing that the boy was much nicer than he let on. Ozpin had given her ample information on Roland, and his past. He was one of the few who had shown nothing but kindness and always received nothing but cruelty. It made Elisabeth sad to know that someone so kind and caring had been broken by those around him, and the girl knew that she was going to be the one that would piece him back together. But for now, she would wait. No need to rush things.

* * *

Roland emerged from the bathroom a good while later, but instead of refreshing, hot steam flowing out the door that Elisabeth was use to, she felt a cold gust come from the now open door. Roland had on a pair of grey sweatpants and nothing more, stunning Elisabeth with the number of injuries on his body as he sat on his bed and began to rap bandages around some of the scars.

"Why are you doing that?" Elisabeth asked, trying not to stare at a particularly painful looking set of scars going across the boy's chest.

"Sometimes my aura doesn't get it right and the wounds reopen without warning. It takes a few days before I'm sure they'll stay closed, so better safe than sorry." He said, finishing in one spot and moving on to a spot on his shoulder.

"How is that possible? They look completely healed…" The girl said, wondering if it was really true.

"Doesn't matter how possible it is or isn't all I know is it happens, and so I adapted to it." Roland finished wrapping his shoulder and tossed the roll of bandages off to the side, then walked to the small kitchen area that was built into every room. He didn't use it all that often, but tonight he was in the mood for something that wasn't made in a microwave.

"Have you eaten?" He said, taking out a number of pots and pans and setting them on the stove, then started sorting through a mix of spices that sat in a cabinet above the stove.

"I ate a bag of chips before, if that counts." Elisabeth said, watching as Roland set a mix of ingredients on the counters and started chopping them into pieces, turning up the stove and putting small pieces of butter in the pans, spreading it around as it melted.

"It doesn't. You need proper food. Now come over here for a second, I'm going to need your help." He said, still taking out a new bottle of spices or extra vegetable as he continued to prepare what was in front of him.

Elisabeth walked over, not sure what good she good do as she wasn't known for her skills in the kitchen. "Um, you should probably know that I'm not a good cook…" She said, watching and waiting as Roland scooped a few things into a bowl and added a variety of spices to the mixture.

"Well call me teacher then, cause tonight you're gonna learn." He handed a bowl and a whisk to Elisabeth as he spoke, then started giving her very specific instructions, some of which he had to repeat. Roland knew that knowing how to cook could be a very vital thing, especially if you were trapped in the wild. Plus, he thought it was fun, and decided that maybe this would help him become more comfortable with his new partner. He still hated the idea of living with someone, but clenched his teeth and told himself to get over it. Ozpin could be yelled at tomorrow, but for now, Roland was hungry.

Elisabeth came back the bowl, which she had whisked into a batter, and handed it to Roland, her face now covered in flower. "What did you manage?" He said, suppressing a smirk at the sight of the girl covered in a layer of white powder. He needed to be serious, not silly and bubbly. He started to wonder if Ruby's bubbly attitude had rubbed off on him a little as he handed Elisabeth a towel.

"I'm not sure really… I opened the bag like you said, but then it just kinda… Exploded…" The girl cleaned her face off, doing the best she could to get all the flower out of her hair. She felt her tail twitch when a wonderful smell started to fill the room, and peaked around Roland to see him slowly pouring the batter into a pan.

"Are you making pancakes?" She said, unable to hide the excitement in her voice. The girl loved breakfast, and getting to eat it twice in a day was a massive bonus.

"Eh, kind of. Their my own special creation. Imagine eating a pancake the size of your hand that was the same as eating ten regular-size pancakes." Roland said, starting to slowly guide the batter into a condensed shape, slowly adding batter as he did so. He didn't even have to look at Elisabeth to know that she was slightly confused, as it seemed that many people always were when they were around him.

"You just wait a bit, they'll be done in just a second." He said, continuing to guide the batter into a condensed shape with a spatula. Elisabeth let out a sad sigh when she realized that she would not be receiving a second breakfast, but decided to sit down on her bed like Roland had requested.

* * *

"Alright, foods ready." Roland said, waking Elisabeth from her nap. The food had taken a bit longer than Elisabeth had expected, and sleeping was never a bad thing to do.

Roland set what looked like a pancake on a plate, then sprinkled it with spices and cut it up, handing the plate to Elisabeth when he finished. He then did the same for another creation, but added a few extra pinches of seasoning to this one.

Elisabeth looked at the plate in her hands, bewildered at the fact that it looked like it had come out of a gourmet kitchen. Everything on it was perfectly symmetrical, and even the spices seemed to be added in a very delicate way.

"Uh, what is this exactly?" Elisabeth said, watching as Roland picked up a slice of his own food and bit off a small part, then swallowed before he spoke.

"I call them "Forever Cakes." Came up with the idea a few years ago, and they turned out to be good. Try it, but don't eat too much." He said, taking another small bite and swallowing.

Elisabeth picked up one of the pieces and realized that it was much heavier than it seemed to be. She took a small bite, just as she had seen Roland do, then chewed it slowly, taking in the uniqueness of the food.

It tasted sweet, but also a little sour, causing her lips to pucker slightly when she swallowed. The moment the food hit her stomach, she felt like she had just eaten half a meal, and stared at the food before her to make sure she had taken as small of a bite as she thought she did. "What's up with this stuff?"

Roland let a small smirk flash across his face at her question. "Its a very condensed mix of foods that can be carried around easily, provides you with the nutrition and proteins you need, and still manages to taste pretty good. But do not, and I mean _do not _eat too much. You shouldn't need more than a one of those slices I cut for you. Try to eat the whole thing and you'll go through one of the worst nights of your life." Roland said, pleased at his ability to properly prepare food.

"So its like I superfood!" Elisabeth said, her energy reminding Roland of Ruby. That thought of comfort turned to mock-horror as Roland realized that he was going to have to live and work with his own version of the energetic brunette.

"Yes, yes I suppose it is. What time is it by the way?" Roland asked, realizing that he had lost all sense of time and space, and due to his loss of consciousness before, he didn't even know what day it was.

Elizabeth flicked out her scroll as she nibbled on the bread-like meal, checking the clock and seeing that it was actually getting late. Late for her tastes, at least. "Nearly ten." She said, tossing her scroll onto her pillow. Roland sat up suddenly, surprised that it was so late, and walked over to the window, pulling the curtain aside a confirming his thoughts when he was greeted with a black night sky.

"Damn, where did the day go? Feels like ten minutes ago I was bleeding out in that forest." He said, his mind returning to the that morning, remembering the fight. He remembered that he had never given that little blue sphere to Ozpin, but being too lazy to go rummage through the pockets and pouches on his combat clothes, decided that the man probably got the object in the end.

Roland's mind suddenly filled with the memory of using his semblance, making him think back to all the times he had used the terrible power before. His window gave a view of the forest, and his eyes were drawn to the massive, grey scar than sat in the dead center.

Elisabeth saw the boy's eyes glass over as he looked out the window, and realized what he was probably looking at. "Oh, yeah… About the forest…" She said, thinking that it was her responsibility to help her new partner.

"I… I did that?" He said, slowly backing away from the window and letting the curtain drop, hoping that it would relieve his mind of the thoughts that now swarmed it. But the disappearance of the forest did nothing to ease his mind as he felt guilt overwhelm him.

"I… I destroyed so much… I did all of that…" Roland suddenly didn't look so strong and intimidating anymore. Instead, he now looked liked a horrified, but not of someone or something, of himself. He looked at his hands with horror and grief in his eyes.

"If that would have been at the school… Or in a city…"

"Hey, Roland, it's fine, it;s alright. You did what you had to do, and you didn't hurt anyone. Plus, you saved Ruby, remember?" Elisabeth said, trying to help the boy realize that his actions were perfectly fine. But he didn't get any better.

He looked from his hands to Elisabeth, the girl amazed at the amount of fear that had so suddenly filled the boy who seemed perfectly fine a few seconds ago. She could see that he was getting ready to run, and reached a hand out to try to grab him.

"What am I?" Roland took off, too fast for Elisabeth, leaving her with that last question that ripped Elisabeth to pieces on the inside. She felt so incredibly sorry for the boy, who had to go through his entire life constantly asking himself that one question. The girl chased after the boy, using her faunas speed and hearing to figure out which way he had gone and managing to keep him in sight for most the time. But Roland soon darted to the side, disappearing through a door. Elisabeth heard the lock slide into place just before she managed to get there, but still slammed into the door, hoping that she could get through it by using sheer force.

The girl bounced off the door, staggering backwards a bit but still determined to get through it. She grabbed the handle and shook it, trying to get through the door and help the boy. Being a faunas, she knew what it was like to be exiled for what you were, and the last thing Roland needed now was to be alone.

After trying and failing to get through the door, she eventually sought a different way. From what the sign above the door said, it led to the roof, and Elisabeth dashed off to find another way up. There was another door nearby, and the faunas flew up the staircase inside, her legs caring her as fast as they could as she ran at full speed up the stairs.

She burst through the door at the top, breathing heavily as she tried to regain her breath. She scanned the flat roof for Roland, eventually finding his slightly pale outline standing out against the black backdrop. Elisabeth ran over to him, slowing down as she drew closer so Roland wouldn't run again.

The girl stood behind him, trying to think of what she could say. Roland was standing rock still, staring at his hands with eyes that were now full of hurt and anger.

"Go back to the room Elisabeth. I just need some time to think." He said, his voice being incredibly calm and relaxed.

"No way. This is not a time for you to be alone. I'm staying with you until you feel better, then I might go back." She said, extending a hand and intending to place it on his shoulder. Roland jerked away the moment Elisabeth touched him, starting to get paranoid that he might hurt her at any moment.

"Elisabeth, just… Just go…" He said, still refusing to look the girl in the eye. He was dangerous, a monster, a force destruction, just like everyone had always said.

"Roland, let me help you. We're partners now, and our job is to take care of each other." Elisabeth said, taking a step closer but not trying to touch him again.

"You don't understand… I can't take care of people if all I'm capable of is hurting them." Roland said, finally facing Elisabeth. Her eyes were filled with concern, and his were red-rimmed and ruled by fear.

"Hey, I've got some rules, and if we're gonna live and work together, they will be followed." Elisabeth said, trying again to place a hand on Roland's shoulder and feeling relieved when he finally allowed it to stay there.

Roland his lips curve up just a little at Elisabeth's words. "So, what are your rules?" He responded, mimicking the tone he had used last time he said the words.

"Rule one, you trust me, and I trust you. Two, you realize that you can do much more than destroy, and therefore you'll stop the depression." She said, giving Roland a small smile and desperately hoping that her words were helping.

"Alright. I might be able to do that." He said, doing his best to smile back but having trouble due to the sadness that still lurked inside him.

"Oh, and can you wear a shirt?" Elisabeth said, deciding that joking was the best way to go, considering it had worked thus far.

Roland realized that he was standing on a roof with no shirt on, and barely managed to suppress a blush. "Maybe, but no promises. Although it would be best if we got back inside soon. As in now." He said, gesturing towards the door.

Elisabeth agreed, and the two walked back quickly, making sure to avoid any other people in the hallways, as neither felt like explaining why Roland was walking around without a shirt on.

"Alright, I'm going to bed. Today has been very… Eventful." Roland said, collapsing on his bed and enjoying the warmth of the blankets. He hadn't told anyone, and he didn't think anyone noticed, but he had stayed up the previous night and let Ruby sleep. Now, he was completely exhausted, the idea of sleeping in a bed instead of sitting in a tree sounding very enticing.

"Same, you aren't the only one who's been working. Goodnight." Elisabeth said, but received no reply as Roland had fallen asleep immediately, and within moments his breathing had slowed down to an almost scary pace.

Elisabeth flipped off the lights, trying to keep quiet even though she doubted that she would wake Roland up. The girl climbed into her own bed, her tail curling around her legs as she welcomed the warm blankets.

_This is going to be an interesting few years…_

**Just a warning, I'm changing the pace of these. Instead of once a day, I'm changing it to once every three days. I've had a ton of ideas for different stories, and I'm really excited to write them. In an attempt to make up for the slower production, the length will be increasing a good amount. Hope you guys enjoyed, and thanks for reading. **


	9. Chapter 9: The days that follow

The next week went by in a blur, Roland's life suddenly filled with a new energy that he had never been given before. The boy was use to living and being alone, and considering he knew nothing else, he thought he had like it. But after realizing how great it was to have someone else around, Roland realized that he never wanted to be alone again.

Elisabeth was always darting around the room, seemingly filled with an energy that infected the air, making it difficult for Roland to sit still or be his negative self when Elisabeth was around. The girl always made Roland smile, something that he hadn't done in years, but she had yet to make him laugh, a goal that she had set for herself a few days after she arrived. Her main strategy was to try to tickle the boy with her tail when he had the back turned, but that usually ended up in her getting pinned to one of the beds as they started one of their play-fights.

Everyone started to notice that Roland was changing a great deal. The previously silent and stone-cold boy was now smiling at times, talking on a regular basis, and a few people even claimed to hear him making jokes. Roland still avoided social interactions, especially with strangers, but it was still a massive change to those around him.

In a flash days slowly turned to weeks, weeks turning to months as it slowly started to grow colder, leaves turning to bright yellows and browns as summer slowly took its leave. The green grass was replaced by a layer of dull colors as the leaves fell, previously warm breezes quickly turning to cool winds, causing most people to bundle up a bit, exchanging their shorts and t-shirts for sweaters and jeans.

* * *

Roland was making breakfast, going with a pancake recipe of his own that had taken weeks to perfect. He and Ren had traded secrets at one point, and Roland had to admit, the kid knew how to cook. His thoughts started to wonder as he watched the batter cook, watching the small bubbles pop around the edges.

He had become much more open in the past month, finally getting to know team JNPR and the rest of RWBY. Everyone seemed nice enough, welcoming him like one of their own, a feeling that was very unfamiliar to Roland, which made him question if he enjoyed it or not. He was still very cautious, even around his friends, but he had loosened up a little. He wasn't so ominous and intimidating anymore, or at least he wasn't trying to be. No one outside of his little circle of trust talked to him, but Roland didn't mind. As fun as having people around was, he still had the memories of betrayal in his mind, and old habits die-hard.

Roland's thoughts were interrupted by the smell of something burning, his sight being greeted by a small, black circle sitting in the pan in front of him. "Ah damn it! Pay attention next time you idiot!" Roland said, criticizing himself as he tried to stop the steady cloud of smoke that climbed up from his failed attempt at a pancake.

He opened a window, flinching at the bright, happy sunlight that swarmed in the room. He still preferred the dark, and the sun was one of his greatest enemies. Reluctantly, Roland left the window open so some of the smoke could flow out, then scraped the tiny black creation into the trash and started making another pancake.

"Well that was a perfect waste of time. Get a grip Roland, you can daydream later." He said, forcing himself to focus on the task at hand. Elisabeth had gone to the library to pick up books, and Roland had decided to be nice by preparing breakfast for her. It was still early, around eight, and because it was a Saturday very few people were up at this time.

Roland enjoyed the silence, which was only broken by the occasional sizzle from his cooking. The halls were normally filled with crashes and bangs coming from the rooms down the hall, making it clear to everyone in the building that someone had upset someone else, or Nora had been given sugar. It usually came from RWBY's room, normally caused by Weiss' teammates stepping over the line on some touchy subject, causing the heiress to cover the room in ice, filling the halls with sounds of bodies hitting the ground as they continuously failed to stand.

"They're gonna kill each other if they don't learn to get along. Biggest bunch of energetic, destructive kids in Vale." Roland said, scooping a pancake out of the pan and onto a plate. He set about making two more, deciding to pick up the pace as Elisabeth would probably be back soon. The sound of sizzling refilled the room as the batter slowly cooked, making for a very peaceful morning. Roland let out a relaxed sigh as he enjoyed the moment, the mix of cool air and soft sounds putting him in his own paradise. He wished the world could stay this way forever.

* * *

Elisabeth opened the door, struggling slightly as she tried to turn the doorknob without dropping any of her books. She managed to get in after a couple tries, and she immediately noticed a sweet, welcoming scent filling the room. She saw Roland sitting in the open windowsill, one leg haphazardly hanging outside as the boy held a book in one hand and a cup in the other.

"Took your time, didn't you?" He said, turning his head in her direction but not making any movements to get up.

"Oh very funny. How about you get up before you fall to your death?" Elisabeth felt her ears flatten slightly when a cold breeze blew through the room. The faunas hated the cold due to her very low tolerance for it, always preferring blankets and hot chocolate to building snowmen.

"Mmmm, I guess I could do that." Roland chimed, his voice rising and lowering in pitch, something that always made Elisabeth laugh. The boy had a very unique sense of humor, always able to make anybody smile no matter what mood they were in. Roland hopped down, strolling over to Elisabeth's bed and examining a few of the books she had picked rented.

"What are all these?" The books ranged from history to grimm biology, and by the looks, there were a few extra volumes for fun strewn in between.

"Well, those are called books. You read them, and then you know stuff." Elisabeth had dealt with Roland's smart-ass remarks for over a month, and now she took every chance she got to get payback. Roland dropped the books on her bed, then turned quickly and bent his knees, going into a wrestling type pose.

"Ooooo, now them's fightin' words."

"H-hey, Roland, don't you dare!" Elisabeth said, backing up slightly and nearly falling over as the back of her legs hit Roland's bed.

"Oh, whats wrong? Kitty isn't _prepurrred _to fight?" Roland had started to take after Yang recently, he and the blond trading puns, and cat-related ones were like gold to those two.

"Oh, that's it. I tried to be nice. But for that one, you die." Elisabeth jumped at Roland, taking the boy by surprise as the two launched backwards onto Elisabeth's bed.

"Well well, looks like this cat has some claws!" Roland said, him and Elisabeth trying to pin each other down as the rolled all over the bed, throwing books all over the classroom.

"Would you quit it with the puns!" Elisabeth yelled, trying to fight back as Roland grabbed both her arms and pushed them into the sheets above her head. "Hm, how about you make me?" He said, giving Elisabeth a challenging look.

"Easy enough." The faunas hooked her legs around Roland's waste, then twisted her body and sent the two tumbling off the bed. Before Roland could even realized what happened Elisabeth had reversed the position, the girl now pinning his hands above his head.

"Now say you're sorry for the terrible jokes."

"Hmm… And if I don't?" Roland said, his eyes still full of challenge and energy as Elisabeth tried to think of a good threat. There wasn't much that Roland was afraid of, and Elisabeth didn't know any embarrassing secrets to use as blackmail. But Roland had the internal age of a six-year-old, and Elisabeth finally thought of something.

"Apologize, or I'll _kiss _you." She said, an evil grin spreading across her face.

Roland's eyes widened slightly at the girl's threat. "You wouldn't dare." He said, doubting the legitimacy of Elisabeth's words. "Oh, I wouldn't?" The girl said, bringing her face inches away from Roland's as she saw the boy start to blush slightly.

"Uh oh, do I see some red in those usually dead cheeks?" Elisabeth mocked, her grin growing even wider. It took all her self-control to keep from bursting out in laughter. Roland was having trouble forming words, and jumped slightly when the door suddenly swung open.

Yang and Ruby entered the room, taking a moment to find the two on the floor. Roland bent his head backwards to see who it was, and couldn't keep from laughing when he saw the look on the sister's faces.

"Now, this isn't what it looks like." He said, taking in deep breaths as he continued to laugh, his deep voice making for a very infectious and welcoming sound that eventually spread to Elisabeth as well. The faunas fell to the side and laid on her back next to Roland, bending her head back in a similar fashion.

"We heard loud noises coming from your room and wanted to see if you two were okay, and this is what we walk in on?" Yang said, the amount of laughter coming from the two making her feel like she was in an insane asylum.

"Hey, she started it! It was all nice and peaceful before this troublemaker got back." Roland said, lightly elbowing Elisabeth as he rolled over on his stomach.

"That's a lie! None of this would have happened had you not started telling your stupid cat jokes!" Elisabeth pushed Roland's shoulder as the boy tried to sit on his knees, laughing some more as he tumbled into the bed frame beside him.

"In my defence, Yang came up with the second one." He said, standing up quickly and offering a hand to Elisabeth.

"So, you two aren't hurt or anything?" Ruby said, bewildered at the fact that the Roland she had met a month ago had transformed into this spastic goofball before her.

"Hurt? Of course we're not hurt! Are you telling me that your team _doesn't _have wrestling matches on a daily basis?" Elisabeth responded, now acting like Ruby and Yang were the crazy ones in the situation.

"Ruby, can't we just go back to bed and let these two go back to their… Whatever they were doing?" Yang asked, obviously not use to waking up early on Saturdays. Ruby gave Roland a questioning glance.

"You two can go back, we're fine. Unless you want breakfast, in which case, I made pancakes." The boy pointed over to a large amount of plates covered in tinfoil sitting on the table.

"I choose sleep." Yang said, leaving the room and not even waiting for Ruby. The brunette gave a small shrug and then followed her sister, closing the door behind her.

"I totally won." Roland said, walking over to the table and starting unwrap the plates.

"You did not! I had you trapped!"

"I could have gotten out of it."

"Then why didn't you?"

"Why do you insist on asking so many questions when we could be eating?" Roland had already started placing spearing pancakes with a fork and placing them onto a plate of his own, then drowned them in syrup. Elisabeth joined him, giving up on arguing due to the fact that she knew Roland would win because of his sheer stubbornness and dedication.

"So whats the occasion?" Elisabeth asked, selecting a few of the breakfast foods and adding small amounts of syrup and butter to them.

"What do you mean? Do I need an occasion to cook every now and then?" Roland responded, waiving his fork around as his short attention span got the better of him.

"I must say, you changed a lot in the past month."

"What do you mean? I haven't changed in the slightest."

"That's a lie! Look at you, cooking, making puns and wrestling. The Roland that existed a month ago would have slit someone's throat open at the mere suggestion of such things." Elisabeth smirked slightly at the amount of change the boy before her had gone through. He seemed like a completely different person.

"I was always like that, I just didn't show it. The Roland you saw before was an act, a curtain to keep this me safe from harm." He said, still waving his fork around like his words wouldn't be understood without the random gestures it created.

"So you never were all evil and stuff?" Elisabeth was a bit doubtful that anyone could put of that good of an act, and anyone who could deserved an award.

"Oh don't get me wrong, I love being a bad guy, it's a ton of fun. No one messes with you, you don't have to worry about anything. Makes life so much easier. But you can't get rid of who you are. You can't deny who you were born as." Roland's eyes suddenly got very serious, as if the air was suddenly a lot heavier.

"You're some kind of philosopher, aren't you?" Elisabeth said, leaning her chair back on two legs as she tried to lighten the mood.

"Yeah, yeah I suppose I am." The boy said, Elisabeth's plan apparently working as his eyes were quickly filled with energy. "Now hurry up and eat, we have plans today." He said, picking up his now empty plate and setting it down in the sink.

"What do you mean _we_? And how did you eat so fast?" Elisabeth didn't even bother to finish eating, the faunas now too curious to think about food.

"Yup, now hurry up and finish eating. And go take a shower, cause I know you didn't take one before you left." Roland's demand of personal hygiene was probably one of the worst traits he had, and when it came to showers he was like a parent.

"Yeah yeah, alright mom." Elisabeth made sure to swat the back of Roland's head with her tail as she scrapped the remains of her food into the trashcan and set her own plate in the sink.

"I suggest you get in that bathroom before you get pinned to another bed." Roland jabbed her in the side with his elbow as she tried to walk by, laughing as the girl squeaked from the sudden jolt that shot through her body. She spun around a swiped at the boy, feeling her fingernails come in contact with his cheek.

"Hey, that's not fair! I tickle you in the side and you try to take half my face off with you claws?" He said, running a hand over his now bleeding cheek. But Elisabeth had already dashed into the bathroom, giggling to herself as she felt that it was a fair trade.

Roland pressed a paper towel to his face, trying to stop the small blood flow. _Crazy girl…_

* * *

Elisabeth emerged from the bathroom wearing nothing but a towel, which caused Roland to fall of his bed in surprise. "For the love of all that is good and holy, what did I tell you about bringing your clothes to the bathroom with you?!" Roland said, bringing his arm over his eyes as he tried to stand up.

"Well sorry, but you were the one trying to start stuff." She said, quickly changing.

"Well you were the one that slapped in the head with your tail." Roland had his back turned but still kept a hand over his eyes, making Elisabeth giggle slightly at the sight of the boy standing so strangely.

"You can turn around now." She said, grabbing her entanglement of black hair and wrapping it in a towel.

"Alright, now as soon as you're ready, we can begin." He said, pulling out a book from under his book. It was small and black, and seemed to be filled to the brim with notes, all written in black ink. Roland quickly flipped through the pages, and once he found a blank page, pulled out a quill and inkwell from under his bed and started writing.

"Uh, what are you doing exactly? And why aren't you just using a pencil?" Elisabeth asked, sitting down beside him and watching as he quickly and effortlessly wrote in perfect cursive, the quill flowing across the page without making a single mistake. "And where did you learn to write like that?"

"It keep a journal, I prefer ink to lead as it just looks better, and I taught myself." He said, dabbing his writing utensil in ink and writing a few more words before covering it in ink again.

"And why do you keep a journal exactly?"

"Just in-case I ever forget. Also, its fun to read about my past experiences when I'm bored." He said, adding a few more words before snapping the book closed.

"You are a very special individual, you know that?" Elisabeth said, watching as Roland slid all the supplies back under his bed.

"I prefer the term _unique." _


	10. Chapter 10: Living weeks in a day

"Holy hell in a hand basket, are you ready yet?"

"Will you hold on? Where are we even going?"

"I told you, we're just going to hang out. I haven't seen you leave the campus once, so I'm taking you into Vale for a day of relaxation. Now _hurry up. _You've been fixing your hair for an hour." Roland's annoyance was continuing to grow as he watched his faunas teammate brush her hair in a different direction for the hundredth time. Elisabeth took long enough to get ready as is, but combined with the grooming instincts of a cat faunas caused her to take an incredibly long time to get ready.

"There, I'm done Mr. Impatience. We can go now." Elisabeth said, tossing her brush aside and taking one last look in the mirror.

"About time. Now grab your coat and let's go." Roland stood by the door, hand on the doorknob as he waited for Elisabeth.

"Please, I don't need a coat. I'll be fine." The girl knew that she would probably get cold later, but right now she felt like getting back at Roland for his lack of patience.

"Fine by me, but don't expect to get my cloak later when you complain about the temperature." He said, turning the door handle and opening the door.

Elisabeth wasn't sure what happened, but all she saw was Yang collide with Roland head first at the speed of light, both of them hitting the wooden floor hard. Roland could do little more than lie on the floor half-conscious as Yang scrambled up and ran behind Elisabeth, clutching onto the girl's shoulders and standing behind the faunas like she was a shield.

"Uh, Yang? What are you-" Elisabeth was cut off as Ruby appeared in a flash on red, clawing at Yang like and animal. Weiss suddenly sprinted into the room, followed closely by Blake, who both seemed to be just as agitated as Ruby.

"Give me the camera Yang!" Ruby lunged at her older sister, consequently taking Elisabeth to the floor as the blond darted away, and tried to escape, her attempt thwarted as Weiss slammed the door shut.

"Give us the camera Yang." Weiss stood in front of the door, making sure Yang was completely trapped.

"Yang, it would probably be best to just hand the thing over. Is a small bit of blackmail really worth this?" Blake was in the process of trying to restrain Ruby, whose silver eyes were filled with fire.

Roland slowly pushed himself up, rubbing his head as he tried to regain his vision. His right eye cooperated, but his left eye remained annoyingly dark. He had an unimaginably painful headache, and the bickering that the girls had commenced in wasn't helping. The boy was incredibly confused, and his mind was racing in an attempt to figure out what had just happened. All he knew was that Yang was holding a camera, Blake was desperately holding onto a vicious Ruby, and Weiss was blocking the door. But as Roland's eyesight grew less fuzzy, he was incredibly surprised and a little uncomfortable at the fact that Ruby and Weiss were in nothing but their underwear.

His mind sick and tired of trying to figure this out while battling sight loss and a nauseating headache, Roland decided to use a method that had always worked in the past; yelling.

"EVERYONE SHUT THE HELL UP FOR SIX DAMN SECONDS!" Everyone in the room, even the dazed Elisabeth, froze in place and looked straight at Roland, slightly scared at the amount of displeasure in his voice. Roland's yell had turned into more of a roar at the end, but the boy didn't care that much. It got the job done.

"For starters, Ruby and Weiss, get over here." The two girls were a little hesitant and didn't move at first.

"That was _not _a request." They worriedly walked over to Roland, wondering what was going to happen next.

They were both surprised when they felt Roland wrap his cloak around them, then pull it tight, covering both completely. "Next time you come bursting into my room, please have the decency to wear some clothes." He said, giving a last, perhaps unnecessarily tight pull, causing some of the air to rush out of the girl's lungs.

Weiss clutched the fabric desperately at Roland's words, realizing that she had completely forgotten about her lack of clothes. The heiresses face turned red like a cherry, which caused Ruby to laugh. The brunette seemed a little less embarrassed than her girlfriend, but her cheeks still turned red as well as she held the cloak close to her.

"Now that that problem had been solved, you two have five seconds to explain what the hell is going on." Roland glared at both Yang and Blake as he waited for an explanation. He let out somewhat of a growl when the two remained silent.

"Five." Still nothing.

"Four." At least Blake looked like she was thinking. Yang just stood there.

"Thr-"

"Alright, alright, I'll tell you what happened since these two are so dumbstruck." Weiss' previous state of displeasure had quickly returned, and the heiress knew it would be best if someone spoke up before Roland finished his countdown.

"Me and Ruby were-" She blushed slightly before giving her girlfriend an embarrassed glance.

"Spending some quality time together!" Ruby said, unable to think of a better way of putting it.

"Yeah, that. And then, that distasteful blond comes sprawling out of the closet in tears, camera in hand." Weiss glared at Yang with venom in her eyes, making the blond take a small step towards the door.

"Don't even think about it Yang. Now, give me the camera." Roland's arm shot out, his hand open as he waited for Yang to comply. Another growl-like noise came from the boy when Yang made it obvious that she didn't plan on handing it over.

"Now way, you're probably gonna side with them. Besides, they should have had their _quality time _somewhere else." She said, clutching the camera to her chest.

"Alright, I'll make this simple then. You give me the camera, or I take the camera. Your choice." Roland still had his arm extended, hoping that Yang would make this easy.

"Nu-uh. Mine" Yang only held the camera closer.

"Blake, do you wanna, oh I don't know, lend me a hand _before _I lose my mind?" Roland asked, hoping to receive some help from the faunas.

"I don't know… I'm enjoying the show as is, and I'd hate for it to end so quickly." Blake smiled, slightly evilly, as Roland let out an aggravated sigh.

"You people are the reason I hate everything." He said, turning his attention back to Yang. "Just give me the camera and then we can all go about our day."

"No way, this stuff is gold."

"For the love of all that is good and holy, just give me the camera or delete the pictures." The displeasure in Roland's voice only continued to grow, if that was possible. But Yang continued to be just as stubborn as always.

"Not gonna happen." She held the camera out now, turning to look at the embarrassed Ruby and Weiss, both of whom looked just a displeased as Roland. "Not without a good reason." Yang grinned at the two girls, barely suppressing a laugh as Weiss looked like she was about to freeze the room.

Yang's grin vanished when she felt the camera suddenly disappear from her hands, turning around just in time to see Elisabeth toss it to Roland.

"Excellent job Elisabeth. Yang, sometimes you make it too easy." The boy looked over the camera in his hands, and after deciding that it was nowhere close to valuable, channeled all his displeasure and used it as fuel to crush the small piece of metal in his hands.

"Hey! That thing cost money!" Yang knew that was basically a lie. The camera had cost her next to nothing, but she still had to pay for it nonetheless.

"Sucks to suck, doesn't it? Now all four of get out of my room before you meet the same fate as this little contraption." He held the camera so that they could all see, then threw it out the still open window.

Yang mumbled something under her breath before storming out, followed by an entertained Blake. Ruby and Weiss got as close to the door as they could before tossing Roland his cloak and dashing for their room.

"I'm going to snap one day, and they are going to be the cause of it." Roland said, throwing the door closed and turning to Elisabeth. "But good job on getting the camera like that. I thought you were still dazed on the floor."

"That was what I was going for. But did you really have to break it like that? Seemed a bit much." Elisabeth said, watching as Roland went into the kitchen and grabbed a small white bottle from one of the cabinets.

"Four girls burst into my room, two of them being half-naked, throw me to the floor, throw _you _to the floor, then end up in a standoff. They're lucky they weren't the ones being destroyed." He opened the bottle and tipped one of the large pills into his hand, downing it effortlessly. Elisabeth was still amazed at his ability to swallow medicine without the help of a liquid. She would choke if she ever tried something like that.

"Need one?" He asked, offering her the bottle.

"Nah, I'm fine. I didn't hit the ground too hard."

Roland shrugged, then tossed the bottle back into the cabinet. "Lucky. That encounter left me with one hell of a headache. Thank Christ for medicine." He sighed, leaning his back against the counter and looking at the ceiling.

"Are we still going into town?" Elisabeth secretly hoped he would say no, unwilling to go into a town full of strangers her were undoubtedly racist against faunas. Not like Vale was anything special, it's just that no town ever seemed to like faunas no matter what.

"No, I suppose we don't have to. Judging by your tone of voice you never really wanted to anyway." Roland pushed off the counter and headed straight for his bed, basically collapsing onto his stomach as he let one arm dangle over the side, his fingertips lightly touching the floor.

Elisabeth mimicked his actions, falling onto her own bed and laying on her back, letting her mind wander as she stared at the blank ceiling. She turned and looked at Roland, whose eyes had already closed as he laid peacefully.

"Gonna take a nap?" She asked, amazed that a situation as small as that could exhaust Roland so easily. Then again, he had hit the floor pretty hard.

"Most likely." Roland didn't even open his eyes to respond, the only part of his body moving being his lips, a sign that he was truly tired.

"Want me to wake you up?"

"Unlikely." Roland always made Elisabeth smile a little when he answered questions in that fashion. Whenever he was tired he always answered everyone's questions with one word, and strangely that one word was always enough. Elisabeth just continued to smile as her gaze returned to the ceiling, and soon she could hear Roland's soft breathing. He was always tired, and most times, Elisabeth couldn't blame him.

* * *

Roland was in the middle of a particularly enjoyable dream when a small knock intruded. His eyes instinctively shot open as he tried to take stock of his surroundings. The room wasn't as bright as it had been when Roland fell asleep. An orange glow spread across the room, making the room seem much more cozy and inviting.

Roland listened for any noise, and after a few seconds started to wonder if he had just imagined it. He let his eyes droop closed again, his body satisfied at the proposal of more sleep. His eyes shot open again when there were three more small, almost inaudible knocks on the door.

Roland remained still, hoping that maybe the visitor would go away. The memories of the day's earlier encounter slowly seeped into his mind, further reinforcing his desire to stay in bed. But he heard another knock, but only one this time, even quieter than the others.

Despite his body's pleads for rest, something made Roland get up. Something in Roland's mind told him that whoever was knocking on his door, they needed him for something important. So, to his body's great displeasure, Roland managed to roll out of bed, swaying slightly as he stood up. As he walked across the room, he noticed that Elisabeth was nowhere to be found. Her bed was empty and Roland could tell by the open door that she wasn't in the bathroom. But he shrugged it off, knowing that this wasn't the first time she had disappeared without and word and probably wouldn't be the last. On the bright side, his vision in his eye had returned, and he no longer had that terrible headache.

Roland expected to see Ozpin or Ruby or one of the other troublemakers on the other side of his door, asking for his help in some stupid task that they could easily achieve on their own. He took a small moment to gather himself before reaching for the doorknob, knowing that whoever was knocking on his door would probably being something unpleasant with them. Technically, he was right.

Roland opened the door to see small girl, dressed in the school uniform despite it being a saturday, her long brown hair complemented by the set of bunny ears that sat on her head. Dark-brown eyes looked pleadingly at emerald-green ones as the small girl looked up at the taller boy, her vision blurred by tears.

"Velvet? What are you doing here?" Roland had plenty of questions, but as his mind slowly put the puzzle pieces together he wanted to kick himself for choosing such blunt words.

Velvet opened her mouth in an attempt to speak, but her words caught in her throat, the only sounds leaving her mouth being sobs as she covered her face with her hands. Roland could almost feel his heart shatter at the sight of the girl in this state, and his instincts kicked in almost immediately. "Hey, hey, its alright. Come on Velvet, its gonna be okay." Roland stepped forward and wrapped his arm around the girl's shoulders, trying to calm her down as he felt the sobs rack her body.

Through her sobs Velvet could hear Roland's voice become filled with a tone that she had never heard him use before. Instead of the serious tone she had heard before, his voice was soft and caring, and for some reason Velvet felt a little bit safer. But the feeling left just as quickly as it had come as Velvet tried to speak again. But the words still refused to leave her throat, the sobs proving too much to overcome. Unable to do anything else that would make herself feel better, Velvet buried her head in Roland's shoulder, slightly enjoying the smell of ash and smoke that the boy gave off.

"Shh, its gonna be okay, I promise. Do you wanna go inside?" Roland felt Velvet nod slightly, and guided her into the room. He had no clue what was happening or what he was doing, but so far it seemed to be working. He and Velvet had only interacted a few times, none of which lasted very long, usually consisting of a small greeting when they bumped into each other in the hallways. The only legitimate time he and Velvet had talked had been when they had slammed face first into each other when Roland had been walking to his initiation.

So why had she come to him? He had seen Velvet talking with RWBY and JNPR plenty of times, so why didn't she seek them out? Roland knew next to nothing about the girl, and because of his lack of knowledge he had no idea how he was going to make her feel better. He was never good at these kinds of things in the first place, and now the list of difficulties continued to grow.

But there would be plenty of time for questions later. Right now Roland's main focus was helping Velvet feel better, and by the look of things, that wasn't going to be an easy task. He guided the girl over to his bed and sat down slowly, still unsure of what he should do.

"Is there… anything I could get you?" He didn't think it was the best question to ask, but at the moment it was all he had.

"T-t-tea?" Velvet finally managed to get a word out, but it was still weak. "Alright, I can do tea." Roland was just excited that he had done something right, and dashed into the kitchen.

A few minutes later he returned, gently handing a mug to Velvet as he sat beside her. The faunas took it gratefully, giving the boy a small nod of thanks as she wasn't sure if she could speak yet. She had stopped crying, but her cheeks were stained from the trails of tears and her normally happy eyes were bloodshot and full of sorrow.

Roland still had no idea what was going on, but the situation seemed to be improving. His mind was exhausted, and the realization that it was still Saturday hit Roland like a brick wall. This morning he had been making pancakes and enjoying the peacefulness that was mornings. But now, in what he estimated to be ten hours, he had gone through whatever happened with RWBY earlier, and now this. His body felt like weeks had gone by, but his mind continued to remind him that the moon hadn't even shown itself yet.

But he returned his attention to Velvet, waiting patiently as the girl took small sips from her tea. After feeling like enough time had passed, he decided that a few questions wouldn't hurt.

"Velvet, what happened?"


	11. Chapter 11: Problems

**As an apology for uploading the last chapter a day late, have this one a day early! **

Roland would not say he was upset. He would not say he was unhappy, nor would he say he was displeased, despite what others observed. No, Roland never classified himself as unhappy, for he had three main feelings of anger. There was anger, the kind that made him lose control of his semblance, usually resulting in massive amounts of destruction. After anger, there was annoyed, a feeling that team RWBY managed to deliver all too often with their constant shenanigans, always burning or freezing something. But by far the worst was the final feeling, and that was when Roland was pissed.

And Roland was unimaginably pissed.

The reason pissing Roland off was so much worse than anything else you could ever imagine was because when Roland was pissed, not only did he not care about anything that happened to him, but he was also conscious. When Roland's semblance managed to escape and reek havoc on the world around him Roland himself wasn't in control, and therefore, whatever happened to you was going to be fast and painless. But now, Roland was in control, he was conscious, and he was oh so pissed, to the point where he could probably wipe out an even larger chunk of the forest than last time without even thinking about his semblance. But this time, he going after a person, not a forest.

So as Roland stormed across campus, eyes on fire, feet stomping against the ground, no one even considered getting in his way. By this time everyone knew about him, and no one wanted to end up being turned to ash because they rubbed him the wrong way. Even the older students stayed well out of his way, watching him storm past and saying a silent prayer for whoever Roland was looking for. He may have been smaller, weaker, and less experienced, but the two swords and eight pistols combined with the demon-like powers made for an intimidating figure, even to the oldest and wisest of students.

The boy watched as people shuffled slightly to avoid getting in his way, pleased that people were finally starting to realize that is he didn't seem to be in the best of moods it was in their best interest to get out-of-the-way. As he walked, he thought about what he would say to the person he sought to find. Being scary wouldn't be that difficult, the idiot was probably a massive coward when the going gets rough, but a bit of pre-planning never hurt anyone. But after coming up with situation after situation that would undoubtedly strike fear into the fool's heart, he decided that it would be much more fun to just wing it. Roland came up with all his best plans on the fly, all of said plans working out in the end. Plus, he had always like improv.

* * *

What would the best entrance be? Should he knock on the door, wait till they answered and then slam his fist into their face? Nah, too sudden, not enough intimidation involved. Maybe bursting in would be better? But then he would have to pause for a second to find his target. But what if that idiot wasn't even in the room? The entire team could have gone out, it was sunset on a saturday after all. Roland would have to come up with something, and so he consulted himself, a tactic that had always worked before.

"So what shall we do then?"

_Don't ask me mate, this was your idea. If I had it my way we'd be sleeping right now. _

"You always want to sleep. Now come on, think of something, I need help."

_Hey, here's an idea. If ya need help, how about you go ask a real person instead of talking to some voice inside your own head!_

"You're an ass, have I ever told you that?"

_Many times. _

"Stupid thing…" Roland did question his sanity at times like this, wondering if the multitude of personalities in his mind that all liked to speak to him at unannounced times meant he was insane. But he could question his mental state later, and for now, decided to throw caution to the wind.

"To Hell with it."

Roland raised his leg until his knee touched his chest, took a deep breath, then kicked the door as hard as possible. He expected to see the wooden rectangle go flinging open, but surprised himself when not only did the door move, but flew into the room, taking a large chunk of wall with it. But he didn't have time to be surprised right now, and so he stormed into the room, giving it a once over and finding the person he was looking for immediately.

Cardin Winchester.

It filled Roland with joy to see that idiot's eyes grow with surprise, and the extra stares from his teammates only made it sweeter. The poor excuse for a hunter was leaning against the window that all the dorm rooms came with, and Roland came up with a plan before anyone could figure out what was happening. The door was already in pieces, so he might as well go all out.

"What do you think you're do-" Cardin was cut off due to Roland's hand wrapping around his neck, and next thing Cardin knew he was being held over a massive drop, looking up at the straight-faced boy whose grip was the only thing keeping Cardin up.

"I must say Cardin, you have a very beautiful view. But alas, I'm feeling a bit impatient at the moment, so I'm afraid the sightseeing will have to wait." Roland didn't get to use his naturally evil personality very often, so when it came to moments like this, he savored every second of it. Being a good guy was fun and all, but got incredibly boring after a while. But being a villain, now that was something Roland would never get tired of.

"What do you want?" Cardin had to admit, he was horrified at the moment. He had gone from reliving the memories of making fun of Velvet to being held out a broken window in a matter of seconds. But he couldn't let Roland know that, otherwise he'd be giving the boy exactly what he wanted. Plus, Cardin knew Roland wouldn't do anything, otherwise he'd be expelled.

"Good question, and one that had many answers. But I'll cut to the chase. You have been a source of displeasure in the life a one rabbit faunas for a good while now, and I think it's time you give it a break." Roland nearly dropped Cardin when he saw that stupid grin spread across his face, that idiotic look of cockiness fill his eyes.

"Oh, so that's where the bunny ran off to this afternoon. Why should I stop when there's no one to stop me?" Cardin thought he had Roland all figured out. Unfortunately, Roland wasn't a very predictable person.

"Well you know what, I guess you're right. But oh dear, it seems my arm has grown very tired." A grin spread across Roland's face, one that contained so much evil only Satan himself would be able to copy it. Cardin's eyes widened with horror as he felt Roland let go of him.

As much as Roland would have loved to watch Cardin explode against the sidewalk below, he was in no mood to go to jail for murdering someone. So, reluctantly, Roland caught Cardin by the collar of his shirt, laughing as the larger boy latched on to his arm.

"Now Cardin, what you going to do about Velvet?"

"L-l-leave her alone! Now can you pull me in?"

Roland laughed again, his deep voice only making the devil inside him more apparent. "I don't know, didn't seem very sincere to me. I think I feel my arm beginning to ache."

"No! no, no, no, I'll leave her alone, I swear I will! I won't ever bother her again, I won't even look at her anymore!" Now that was something Roland could believe.

"Well then, I think those words have given me a new strength." With that, he yanked Cardin back into the room, perhaps a little too hard as Cardin stumbled a bit when his feet hit the floor.

"Now, I'm afraid I'll have to leave. Places to go, people to see, all that good stuff. But this was fun, don't you think? Too bad we're never going to do it again." Roland crossed the room quickly, paying no attention to the stunned team CRDL. Just before he left, he paused in the doorway and stared straight at the stunned leader.

"We won't do this again, right Cardin?" He only received a rushed nod in response, but it was enough. By the look in Cardin's eyes, he wasn't going to even consider bothering Velvet ever again. Hell, he probably wasn't going to bother anyone after this encounter.

"Splendid. See ya around." Roland gave a small wave, as though the four people in front of him were his friends, then left. He couldn't keep the smile off his face as he walked through the hall, basically skipped down the steps, and flung open the main door, taking in a deep breath as he felt a sense of accomplishment. He might have gone a tad bit overboard, but all in all he thought it was worth it. Unfortunately his feelings were crushed when he heard an all too familiar voice yell out his name from behind him.

Ah yes, now for the inevitable consequences of holding a student out a broken window by his neck. In hindsight, Roland should have been prepared for this, or seen it coming at the least. He turned around, just as calm as ever, to see a very upset Glynda Goodwitch walking at a very brisk pace. She was getting ready to speak when Roland held up a hand to silence her.

"I realize exactly what I've done, and I regret nothing. Now then, shall we go to Ozpin's office?" Her face went from anger to confusing then straight back to anger after he finished.

"Follow me young man. The headmaster has some topics that he wants to discuss, and luckily for you, it does not involve the show you just put on." Glynda's words confused Roland, but he followed willingly anyway. If Ozpin wanted to talk, it meant that something wasn't the way it should be, and Roland was in the mood for a bit of trouble.

Besides, he didn't have anything else to do.

* * *

"I'm sorry, you're sending me where? And for what reason exactly?" Roland was confused, all this was happening too fast.

"You're being sent on what we call an extermination and scouting mission." Ozpin was talking like this was completely normal. Like there was nothing wrong with sending a student into uncharted territory where who-knows-what lived.

"Yeah, I get that part. I'm talking about the bit where you're sending me into Grimm infested lands that no one has ever returned from!" Roland had tried to be nice, to stay calm. But he was done with Ozpin's calm attitude towards this.

"It's a necessary part of our survi-"

"I don't give a damn about how necessary it is! I wasn't scheduled to go out for another two weeks, and now you think you can just drop this on me and send me out the same day?! That's a load of bullsh-"

"Roland, I understand this is very sudden. But we need someone to do this job."

"Then send someone who finished their training! Send someone who's qualified for this crap! Who in the right mind thought it would be a good idea to send a kid out there?!" Roland was standing now, slamming his hands on to Ozpin's desk as he looked the man in the eye.

"You know you can do this." Ozpin refused to react in any way that would upset the boy any more. But so far, staying calm wasn't doing all that much.

"What the Hell are you on? Do you remember what happened during my initiation? Allow me to give a small summary; I. NEARLY. DIED."

"I'm sorry, but you have no choice. You'll be leaving in two hours. I suggest you get ready." Ozpin decided that trying to reason with Roland wasn't going to do any good. He would talk to the boy again before he left, but for now, it was best if Roland had some time to cool off. But Roland was far from done.

"Tell me why you're sending me! There are hundreds of others! Are you trying to get me killed?! Do people really want me gone _that_ badly?!" Those were the words that finally made it home with Ozpin. The man should have remembered how Roland thought, how his mind had become accustomed to isolation and hate. Ozpin had forgotten how many times Roland had been beaten to the point where he almost died, how many times the boy had been tricked into situations that almost cost him his life. Roland wasn't angry because he was having this kind of burden put on his shoulders, he was angry because he felt that he wasn't wanted, to the point where people were trying to kill him.

"That is not what this is about." Ozpin would have to explain now. He didn't have a choice.

"Then what is it about Ozpin?! You always know what will happen! You always have everything planned out, just like when you sent me and Ruby into that damn deathtrap! So what is this about?! ANSWER ME!" Roland's fists slammed down again, but this time they went straight through the wooden desk. Roland could feel blood slowly start to cover his hand as he let his fists lay still. He didn't care. He didn't care about the injury, about the desk, about Ozpin or anyone else. Roland was sick and tired of caring. He was done.

"I'm sending you out there because I don't trust anyone else like I trust you. I know how you fight Roland. Put a knife in someone's shoulder and the pain will eventually get to them, and that will bring them down. But if someone put a knife in you? You'd just pull it out, laugh, then kill them without a second thought. For regular people, pain is a hindrance. For you, pain is your friend, your fuel, the thing that keeps you going when everyone else has collapsed."

Roland's gaze softened slightly as Ozpin spoke, but that familiar rage was still there. Roland wanted to speak, but found that the words refused to leave his mouth, and so Ozpin continued.

"You may have arrived a year late, but that doesn't mean you're behind. In fact, you are far beyond anyone at this school, anyone in Vale to be honest. And that is because everyone had help when they started. Every hunter or huntress chose their weapon, chose their style, chose their school and chose their teacher. But not you. From birth, you were forced to adapt. You weren't given a choice, you were given a life and nothing more. They've been fighting since what age? Nine, ten at the latest? You've fought for your entire life. They got summers off, weeks away for Christmas and Spring Break. What did those holidays mean for you? Extra torment and challenge, more pain and suffering."

"What are you trying to say?" Roland finally managed to speak, but just barely, his words being much weaker than before, carrying much less force.

"I'm saying you're strong as stone a just a ruthless. You can do things that would cause others to faint because you learned that a conscious will only go so far. You learned that emotions hold much more power than muscles, and you aren't afraid to be bad. I'm sending you out there because that place is a replica of what it was like for you growing up. Those beasts are ruthless and cunning, and so are you." Ozpin's words were working. Roland knew the man was sincere, and because if that his rage slowly subsided, replaced by understanding.

"I need a mind that can adapt in seconds. One that isn't afraid to be the bad guy if it means winning. One that's so ruthless it makes Hell look like a field of daisies. And I'm afraid your mind is the only one that matches that description." Ozpin watched as Roland's eyes cycled through emotions, eventually closing as the boy let out a long sigh.

"You're explaining my sudden disappearance to Elisabeth." Roland ripped his hands from the desk and wiped his knuckles on his clothes, leaving blood stains in their wake.

"So you'll do it?" Ozpin might have let a bit of excitement slip into his voice, but didn't care all that much at the moment. Despite how cheesy his little speech may have been, it was true. Roland was the only person capable of going into uncharted lands and returning in one piece.

"I better get some homework passes after this. So help me Christ if I come back and Oobleck is on my ass about makeup work I'm going to kill someone." Despite his attempt at a serious mood Roland couldn't keep his lips from curving up slightly. A little bit of praise went a long way with the boy.

Ozpin grinned as well, silently thanking Roland's ability to switch moods so quickly. "I'm sure we can arrange something. Now go get ready, you'll be gone for at least a month." Roland flinched as he was told how long he would be gone.

"Good Lord, an entire month?"

"At the least." Roland flinched again.

"Elisabeth is gonna be pissssssssed."

"I'll explain it to her. I'm sure she'll understand."

"Yeah, and I'll help you clean the wound after she claws your eyes out." Roland and Ozpin shared a small laugh before the boy walked towards the door. Just before stepping out, he heard Ozpin call his name one last time.

"Yeah?"

"Be careful out there. You're much more important than you think." Roland gave a small laugh.

"Please Ozpin, name one time I've done something dangerous." And with that Roland left, lightly closing the door behind him.

"It'd be much more fun to try to name one time you haven't…"


	12. Chapter 12: Goodbye?

"YOU'RE WHAT?"

Perhaps Roland shouldn't have been so blunt. It was a bit too late now however, as Elisabeth was responding to his sudden departure in a rather harsh way. He really should have just let Ozpin tell her.

"I was mad too, but I can't change it now. I have to go." Ozpin had stayed calm with Roland, so maybe if Roland stayed calm with Elisabeth it would end happily.

"I'm… I'm sorry, but could you run through this again? Maybe I just misunderstood you." Elisabeth refused to believe it. Uncharted lands? And for an entire month? There was no way she was letting Roland go off on this suicide mission.

"I'm being sent on a scouting and extermination mission. I'm suppose to map out new territory, take out any Grimm, then report back." The more Roland said it the crazier it sounded, but that wasn't going to keep him here.

"I… I'm at a loss for words. I can't even comprehend the stupidity." Elisabeth paced around the room, trying to make sense of what was happening. He couldn't be leaving on something so dangerous. What if something happened to him? What if he didn't come back?

"Elisabeth…"

"Don't you _Elisabeth _me! I will not have this! You are staying right here, and I am going to make sure you don't leave!"

"Elisabeth you can't-"

"Don't you tell me what I can and can't do! I will do as I please, and right now, I _will not _allow you to leave!" The girl was growing angrier, but she wasn't the only one. Roland couldn't stay, he had accepted that, but now Elisabeth was making this much harder than it had to be.

"Damn it Elisabeth do you think I want to go?! Do you think I want to be thrown into unknown lands and be faced with certain death? Cause I don't! I want to stay here, but I can't, and that's the way it has to be!"

"NO! I won't let you! You can't leave, not now! What if something happened to you? What if you-" The words caught in her throat as she thought about the sight of Roland's mangled body lying before her.

"What if I what? If I die? Well then I suppose I die! I don't have a choice, and neither do you!" Roland saw a brief flash of sadness in her eyes, but anger returned quickly.

"Don't you care?! Don't you care about your friends? What would we do if you were gone? What would I do? What would anybody say or do if we lost you?!"

"Nobody cares about me!" Roland knew that was true. No one had ever wanted him around before, so why should things be different now? No one cared, right? He thought it was true at the least.

"I CARE DAMN IT." Now it was Roland's turn to think. Those words triggered something, causing him to think about the last time someone had said that. Had anyone ever said those words to him before? He couldn't remember if anyone had ever shown any signs that he mattered. But the more he thought about it, the less anger her felt.

Only now did Roland notice the tears streaming down Elisabeth's face. Her last words echoed in his mind, his mind fought with itself, half desperately wanting to believe that someone cared for him, that he was finally wanted, the other half demanding that he be smart, realize that the girl was lying, that no one cared and that no one ever would.

"E-Elisabeth…" Only now did Roland realize his mistake. He reached a hand out, but Elisabeth was far from finished.

"I care about you! If they don't then I do! I don't want to lose you Roland! I don't want to see you die! I-I…" The girl had gone this far, she might as well go all out. "I don't know how I feel about you but I know it's a Hell of a lot more than friendship, and I don't want to lose that!"

The amount of tears on her face only grew, and Roland felt like he had walked face first into a brick wall. Elisabeth had made jokes, Hell even Roland had made jokes about there being more, but they were just jokes, right? But no, he didn't know how to do those kinds of things. He had never been in a relationship before, so how was he suppose to know if she was telling the truth? This was probably just an outburst, she was just saying it because she was upset. He would go on this mission, come back, and then she would be cracking jokes about everything she had said. That's what was going to happen, right?

"What… What are you trying to say?" Maybe not the best question, a little blunt, but it was all Roland could come up with.

"What in Hell's bells do you think? I have feelings for you! And even if you don't feel the same that doesn't mean you have the right to go running off and just leaving me here alone! I don't want to be alone again!" Despite her anger, Elisabeth was sounding weaker and weaker by the second. Her voice started to tremble, as did her lower lip as she slumped down on to her bed, face in her hands.

"E-Elisabeth… I don't know-" Roland thought Elisabeth was all out of rage. Unfortunately, she still had a little left.

"Of course you don't. You don't know anything about other people, do you? You've always been alone, so you don't know what abandonment feels like. You've never had a home, so you don't know what it's like to lose one. You've never loved someone or had someone love you, so you don't know what it feels like to lose them. You just don't know. So go. Leave. Go on your stupid mission. Get yourself killed. See how many lives your death is going to affect, and then maybe you'll think for once." Elisabeth's words felt like daggers, slowly cutting the boy's heart to pieces as she spoke.

Roland wanted to speak, but he had no idea what to say. In all his years, nothing had ever hurt as much as this. But Elisabeth was right. He never had home, and probably never would. Beacon was just temporary. They would kick him out one day, and then it'd be just like old times. After those thoughts sunk in, Roland knew what to say.

"You're right. I don't belong. Never have, never will. I'm sorry if I've hurt you, I didn't mean to. But I've always hurt those around me, no matter how hard I try. I'll be going now. The longer I stay the more harm I'll cause. It's been great knowing you Elisabeth, and I hope you have a good, long life. As for me, I don't think I'm coming back. It'd be best if I stay in uncharted land, that way I can't hurt things anymore." Roland quickly picked up his weapons and made for the door. He didn't grab anything else, he wouldn't need it after all. The boy ignored the tears flowing down his face. Now wasn't the time for crying, now was the time to leave.

"I'm sorry for my lack of knowledge Elisabeth. You deserve better." Roland didn't look back. He knew that if he did, if he saw Elisabeth sitting the way she was, crying into her hands as he closed the door, that he would break down too. He would collapse into some pitiful ball of grief and tears, just like he had done in the past. But he had no right to cry at this moment, not after what he told himself he had done.

He closed the door softly, not wanting to disturb anyone. All he wanted to do was leave before he screwed up anymore than he already had. Roland never wanted to hurt someone in that way again, and the only way for him to do that was to get as far away as possible. he would live with the Grimm in the uncharted lands, keeping his fellow humans safe from the destructive force that he would never be able to control. He would live among the monsters of this world.

After all, it takes one to know one.

* * *

"You're early." Ozpin half expected the boy to not show up at all, so seeing him an hour before departure was a pleasant surprise.

"I just want to get this over with. Now come on, lets go." There was something wrong with Roland, that much was obvious. He didn't even look at Ozpin, instead going straight into the airship and sitting down.

"Is something wrong?" The last thing Ozpin needed was an emotionally conflicted Roland, especially at a time like this.

"No, so can we leave now?" Roland's voice was a mixture of ice-cold anger and soul crushing sadness, a mixture that Ozpin had heard the boy use many times before. But after all the years Ozpin had seen the boy he knew that trying to help Roland feel better was useless, and would only prove to annoy him. If Roland wanted to talk, he would talk, but for now it would be best to just leave him be.

"We're leaving in one hour."

* * *

Elisabeth's eyes snapped open. Had that actually happened? No, no she couldn't have said those things, it was just a dream, nothing more than a nightmare. She would roll over and see Roland sleeping in his bed across the room, just like he always was. But if that was true, why was she so scared? Why was she so worried that his bed would be empty? It had to have been a dream. It had to be.

But when Elisabeth rolled over, there wasn't a familiar lump in the bed. The room wasn't filled with that strangely comforting smell of ash and burnt wood, and there wasn't a person there to make a joke about how messy her hair was, or how her tail curled around her legs as her ears laid flat against her head. He wasn't there, and Elisabeth realized that if she didn't find him, he would never be there again.

She ignored the fact that her pillow, along with her face, was covered in tears. She didn't stop to check her hair, or grab her coat. She didn't care, and she didn't have time. Roland couldn't have left yet, he couldn't be gone. She would find him, she had to. Elisabeth couldn't lose someone again.

People stared wide-eyed at the faunas girl who ran across the campus at full speed, tear trails flowing down her face as she demanded her legs to move faster. Elisabeth didn't know where she was going, or what was telling her that Roland was there, but she didn't have time to think. The only thing she could do was run, but no matter how fast she went, it didn't feel like enough. The world around her turned to blurs of color as she continued to sprint, her instincts telling her to follow the faint smell of ash and burnt wood.

* * *

Roland let out a long sigh, mimicking the sound of the engines as they started up. This wasn't the best way for things to end, but it was the only option he had. It was either stay and continue to hurt the ones he cared for or leave and spare them the inevitable pain.

He felt strangely relieved as the large door slowly closed before him, staring out at the dark school through his window. It had been a good month, probably the best of his life, but everything has an end. He didn't want to go, but it was for the best, or at least that was what he kept telling himself.

Roland did regret a few things. Like how he never said goodbye to RWBY, JNPR, and Velvet, or how things had ended with Elisabeth. But they would all forget him in time, and then they could all be happy.

This was the first moment in a long while that Roland realized what he truly wanted. In the past he had wanted a family, or revenge, or power. But now, he wanted everyone else to be happy, nothing more, nothing less. But so long as he was around, that wasn't going to be possible.

The ship slowly climbed into the air, giving Roland one last view of the school before it turned around and blasted off, turning the landscape below to a blur of greys and greens. There were so many things Roland still wanted to do, to say, to feel. But sadly enough, this was life, and this was the real world.

And the real world wasn't the same as a fairy tale.

* * *

"No." There was nothing else Elisabeth could think to say. She had run all the way here, all the way across campus, just to see that accursed airship fly away. It couldn't be true, she refused to believe it. Any second now Roland would be behind her, making some stupid joke or retelling one of the puns he had heard from Yang. Any second now.

But the only one standing on that landing pad was Elisabeth. Roland wasn't there. He was in that airship, hundreds of feet above the ground, flying away.

Elisabeth couldn't put into words how she felt. How long had she known Roland? A month plus a few days? So why did she feel this way? Why did she feel like the two had been together for life? In one short month Roland had done more for Elisabeth than anyone else had in her entire life.

Her parents had done as much as they could, but that didn't mean they had done a lot. Roland had cared for her so much, said so many things that no one else had ever said to her before. He was suppose to be pure evil, his semblance was suppose to make him naturally bad, and yet he was the nicest person Elisabeth had ever known. How was it that a person filled with so much hatred, treated so terribly for their entire life, could be so good? It didn't make sense.

Even after the airship disappeared from her view Elisabeth kept her eyes glued to the sky, as if she expected to see it turn around and fly back. But Elisabeth knew that wasn't going to happen. She fell to her knees, feeling sick, like some part of her was missing. This couldn't be happening, she couldn't lose someone again. Roland was her partner, she needed him, and not just for school. She needed him to say his stupid jokes, to tackle her to the ground at random times and pretend to fight her, laughing as the two rolled all over the place trying to pin the other down. She needed him to make breakfast every saturday morning, just like he always did, trying to show off as much as possible as he flipped a pancake into the air and caught it in the pan effortlessly.

She needed him to chime in occasionally when she was doing her homework, correcting one of her problems and explaining things to her if she didn't understand. She needed him to come back, so things could go back to the way they had been this morning. Elisabeth couldn't believe that this had all happened in one day. Just one short day and her life had changed again. This morning Roland was wrestling with her and cooking breakfast, and now he was gone. It was unfathomable. Even if Elisabeth wanted to believe it, there was no way she could have ever imagined this. It was a nightmare.

* * *

It was almost thirty minutes before anyone noticed Elisabeth. The faunas still sat on her knees, looking up at the night sky, eyes glassy from tears. Luckily for her, RWBY found her before anyone else.

"Hey Liz, what are you doing out here?" Yang was the only one that called Elisabeth Liz. Everyone else said they thought her full name was prettier, even though the girl had always thought saying her full name every time was a bit of a hassle.

"Roland… He…" She was amazed that she could speak at all, but her voice was weak and wasn't near as sweet and joyful as normal.

"What about Roland? What kind of trouble has the fool gotten into this time?" Weiss sounded just as cold as ever, thinking that Roland had probably tried to pull of some practical joke and ended up getting caught.

"Hes gone…" Elisabeth's words surprised them all.

"What do you mean hes gone? Gone where?" Ruby sounded worried, perhaps a little more than she would have liked to show.

"Hes just… Gone." There wasn't any other way to put it. Elisabeth's mind had come to a stand-still, and she felt like she might pass out at any moment.

"Like, on a mission?" Yang asked, taking a step forward and placing a hand on the girl's shoulder, kneeling down to her height as she did so.

"Yeah but… I'm scared he won't come back…" Elisabeth shook her head as she spoke, trying to get rid of the awful memories that swam in her mind.

"What? Please, Roland will be fine. But why aren't you being sent with him? Aren't you two partners?" Ruby didn't help all that much, but her question was exactly what Elisabeth had been asking herself.

"This morning we were… But now, I'm not so sure."


	13. Chapter 13: Right and wrong

Everything was black. The earth, the trees, even the sky seemed to glow a dull grey as the airship rushed over the landscape. Not a word was spoken inside, Ozpin simply staring at his scroll, wondering if he had made the right choice. Roland had been right about one thing, and that was that Ozpin always knew what would happen. But this was an exception, because this time Ozpin didn't know. He could actually lose a student, and a very important one at that. Maybe he should have chosen an older team, one with more experience. It wasn't too late to turn around, to take it back and have a little bit of insurance if things did go wrong.

"Why didn't you send Elisabeth with me?" Roland's words cut through the silence like knives, surprising Ozpin.

The man had to think for a moment, but eventually found something to say. "Would you have allowed her to go?" Ozpin had thought about sending them both, but Roland would have never let Elisabeth come to a place like this. He would have put Ozpin through Hell to make sure she stayed behind.

As much as Roland hated to admit it, Ozpin was right. "No. No, I suppose I wouldn't." Damn that man. This was all his fault. If he hadn't sent Roland on this stupid mission none of this would have happened. Roland could still be with Elisabeth right now, telling jokes and laughing with her as they watched the stars through their window. Damn that man for taking that away from him.

* * *

Every second felt like a lifetime, but they eventually reached the area. "We'll take you down and-" Ozpin was silenced as Roland held up a hand and walked over to the door.

"Landing will take too long. Just fly low and I'll jump."

"Roland, I don't think that's a good id-"

"And I couldn't care less, so _fly low." _Roland wasn't in the mood to hear what Ozpin had to say. He would go into that barren wasteland, get the job done, then leave. Plain and simple, no need to over-complicate things.

Ozpin knew arguing with an emotionally disturbed Roland was like trying to mine diamonds with a loaf of bread, and so he sent a message to the pilots. Seconds later the ship started getting closer to the ground, the jet-black landscape coming into a view little by little as the ship slowed down.

Ozpin stood up and grabbed a large backpack that had been sitting under his seat, then handed it to Roland. "In here is everything you'll need plus some considering you didn't bring anything." Roland took the pack and sorted through it, taking inventory and memorizing what he had.

"That's enough air-dried food and water to last two months, so you should have no problems when it comes to surviving."

Roland pulled out a small tablet, slightly smaller than a regular scroll and held it up. "Whats this for?"

"That is how we know when to come get you. You have no connection with us out here, and even the best scrolls would have little to no signal. With that you get one call, and that is to be used to contact us and us only. Understood?"

Roland gave a small nod then shoved the tablet back into the pack and zipped it up. Without any hesitation he pulled the door open, squinting slightly as the wind hit his eyes at high speeds. "Are you sure you want to jump?" Ozpin had seen Roland land some fairly large falls and walk away unscathed, but this was unfamiliar terrain, and the speed of the aircraft wouldn't help either.

"I'll be fine, I've gone through worse. Now then, if I do die, I want to thank you for the education. It's been fun. Oh, and if I don't make it, tell my friends I'm sorry."

Ozpin wanted to say something along the lines of _you'll be fine _or _don't talk like that_ but Roland had no intention to wait around. The moment he finished his sentence he was gone, plummeting towards the dark landscape below.

"Something tells me you're not the one that should be sorry."

* * *

The fall was brief, but the speed that the airship had been going at made up for the lack of height. The moment Roland's feet hit the ground he knew one forward role wasn't going to be anywhere near enough to keep him from harm. His body went through the natural motions, letting his right shoulder drop, trying to keep his legs as loose as possible to slow him down. The moment he finished the first roll he went into another without hesitation, hoping two would be enough. His body repeated the motions, perhaps a bit sloppily this time, but it got the job done. He felt himself body stop moving as he slammed his palm into the sand-like earth.

Roland stayed in a crouched position for a few seconds, waiting to see if any part of him sent out waves of pain. His shoulder ached a but, but it was nothing to be worried about. After he was sure he had managed to keep himself from major injury he slowly stood up, looking at the world around him.

Just like in the airship, everything was black. Dead trees dotted the landscape for as far as he could see, their black trunks blending in with the strangely black earth. If it had been hotter Roland could have believed he was standing in a desert made of black sand, finding it hard to believe that this horrible place and the beautiful Vale existed in the same world.

"They could have sent me to a jungle, or a desert, or to the coast, and instead they send me to scout out a world of ebony. Just when I thought things couldn't get worse." Roland felt like he had been exiled, which wasn't too hard to believe. From the sound of it Elisabeth hated him, everyone else was probably going to be upset about him leaving so suddenly, and now he was in this Hell hole alone.

"Well, at least it has a nice color to it."

* * *

Seven people sat in dead silence, all of them asking the same question but no one wanting to speak. It had been a few hours since Roland left and none of them understood why Elisabeth was so upset. At first they all figured she just missed Roland, or she was upset that she hadn't been sent out with him, but after seeing her curl into a ball in bed and cry nonstop they knew something else was going on.

JNPR had joined RWBY the moment they had seen Elisabeth. They had tried everything from talking to the girl all at once to sending in one person at a time hoping something would help the poor faunas. Now they all sat and waited for Blake to return, as she had been the last person in line to try and help Elisabeth. They hoped that Blake also being a cat-faunas would make it easier for the two to communicate, and considering the fact that Blake had been gone for about fifteen minutes, they all thought that maybe she had managed something.

When Blake walked back into her dorm room five minutes later she was greeted with seven sets of hopeful eyes. The girl desperately wanted to tell them that she had gotten through, that Elisabeth was better and she had explained why she had been so upset. But right now, lying wasn't going to do them any good. "I couldn't find out anything."

The hope from their eyes disappeared the moment Blake spoke, replaced by the same look of worry. Even Nora, who was always so full of energy, sat rock still, staring out the window as if the solution would come flying face first into the glass. No one knew what to say, but all of them wanted to speak, and in the end it was Yang who finally broke the silence.

"This doesn't make any sense. Liz has never been this bummed out before, she's usually so happy."

"Just because she's normally happy doesn't mean she can't be sad. But Yang is right, this doesn't make any sense." Ruby said, just as puzzled as her older sister.

"Maybe she just misses Roland? He did leave without telling anyone, she might feel betrayed." Juan couldn't think of any other reason for Elisabeth's sudden depression.

"But why wasn't Elisabeth sent out with him? Those two were always together, so why did he get sent out alone?" Weiss would never admit it, but she was just as concerned as the others. But she wasn't one to seem all worked up over one thing.

"Well, I wouldn't say he left without telling anyone. He may have just not told someone in the best way." Everyone looked dead at Pyrrha, who now felt like she probably should have said something earlier.

"What? Do you know something? Did he tell you where he was going?" Ruby may have gotten a little to excited, jumping of her bed and crossing the room in a flash, leaving rose petals in the air.

"Well, not really, but…" Pyrrha was slightly intimidated by Ruby, who had suddenly grabbed Pyrrha by the shoulders and gave a shake that may have been a little too violent.

"But what? What happened?" Ruby shook the older girl again.

"W-well, when you were all out, it was just me in my room, and I could hear yelling coming from the hallway. I peaked my head out of the door and saw Roland leaving the room, but he didn't seem like he was in a hurry. In fact, he was walking really slowly, like something was bothering him." Pyrrha tried to remember if there was anything else she had seen or heard, but her mind provided no information.

"What? Those two fighting? No way, I don't even know if that's physically possible. They never yelled at each other, not once!" Now it was Yang's turn to get a bit excited, her mind suddenly alert as it tried to make sense of the new information.

"You didn't go after Roland?" Weiss' tone combined with a now standing Yang and Ruby made Pyrrha feel like she was being accused.

"Well I didn't know! Like Yang said, those two never fought! I figured they had just been in the middle of a wrestling match or something!"

"Alright, everyone calm down for a second." Ren had seen that the situation was going to escalate into an arguing match if some didn't become the voice of reason, so he had decided to take charge.

"So, we know that Roland and Elisabeth had something happen, Roland left somewhere, and now Elisabeth is depressed. I think one of them may have lost it a little, said some things they regret, and now they can't apologize because Roland isn't here." Ren could almost see the gears turning in their heads as they listened to his theory. It wasn't much, but so far its all they had.

"But they can just apologize when Roland comes back, so why is she so messed up now?" Of all people, it was Nora who managed to find the hole in Ren's theory. But before anyone else could speak, a small, hoarse voice came from the now opened door.

"Because, due to what I said, I don't know if he's coming back." All of them stared wide-eyed at Elisabeth, who looked like she had just gone through the fight of her life. Her eyes were puffy and bloodshot, the previously lively purple seeming like they had had the life sucked out of them. Her hair was a mess, the tangles of black and single line of purple being completely different from its normally perfect appearance. He ears were laid back against the top of her head, and her tail was wrapped tightly around her left leg. She looked like a lost kitten, scared and unaware of what to do or where to go.

"Elisabeth, what are you doing here? You need rest." Ruby released Pyrrha and turned her full attention to the other girl, feeling her heart shatter at the sight of the poor faunas.

"I'm sick and tired of rest. I've decided to get up and do something instead of crying like some stupid child." A little bit of fire returned to the girl's eyes as she spoke, and the others could tell that she was not going back to her room anytime soon.

"Liz, I really don't think-" Yang was cut off mid sentence.

"I don't give a damn what you think. I've made my choice, and you can either help me, or stay here and argue over what you think happened. The more I thought about it, the more I realized something. Roland always had a strategy, and that was to deal with sadness by getting angry. So its time to take a page out of his book, because _I. Am. Pissed."_

* * *

"Stupid. This is stupid. This land is stupid, I'm stupid, Ozpin is stupid, this dirt is stupid, It's all stupid." Roland had his eyes glued to the map he had found in the backpack, trying not to trip as he continued to walk through the area. He had yet to encounter any Grimm, but he knew they were out there, probably watching him. Knowing his luck, they were probably all sitting in one massive group just waiting for the boy to run into them.

_Oh come on, it's not that bad. At least we get some peace and quiet. _

"Shut up, this is as bad as it gets. Have you forgotten what happened before we left?" Despite Roland's effort the voices in his head had returned, as the always did, and the longer he was alone the more of them started talking. Most of them were just singular emotions, but sometimes full-blown personalities would voice their opinions, and the fact that it all happened in Roland's head caused him to assume that he was mentally insane.

_It could be worse. _

"How? Please explain to me how it could get any worse." At least they kept him company.

_Well, we could be dead. _

"You know, I'm willing to bet death would improve the situation."

_Oh don't say that. If you died, people would miss you. You don't want to make people sad, do you? _

"Alright, you go away. Send in one of the other ones, I'm not in the mood for an upbeat voice trying to cheer me up." Roland hated just about all the voices, but out of all of them he hated the happy ones the most. Nothing was worse than being depressed and having to deal with some annoyingly cheery voice going on and on in your head.

_**Happy go lucky not doing any good? **_

"Take a guess." This had to be the only voice Roland actually enjoyed having. It was smart and calculating, not stupid and careless like the rest.

_**Well, I can't say I'm surprised. You messed up pretty bad.**_

"What? It wasn't my fault, she was the one that freaked out."

_**And then you just left instead of trying to make things right. I doubt that helped the situation. **_

"What was I supposed to do? She told me to leave, and it's not like I could say anything."

_**You could have tried. But instead you ran, just like always.  
**_

"I do not need my own mind criticizing me on my choices. I know I messed up you idiot, but I can't do anything about it now."

_**So are you going back? **_

Roland stopped walking. Should he go back? If he did, he might end up hurting more people, but refusing to go back could bring the same result.

_**You didn't answer. **_

"Shut the Hell up. I'll figure it out later, I've got a month to decide. For now I need to focus." Roland started to walk again, his pace quickening a little as he tried to ignore the voices.

_**Fine, fine. I can't tell you which choice is good or bad because I don't even know myself. But I'm very excited to see how this story unfolds. **_

The more Roland thought about it the worse he felt. He wasn't sure if he even wanted to go back, but staying here wasn't a very attractive choice.

"Stupid voices."

* * *

"So, whats your plan again?" Yang had heard the girl explain it three times now but she still didn't understand.

"I'm going to find him, and I need help to do so. Now stay close, I am not in the mood to wait around." Elisabeth increased her pace again, basically jogging as RWBY and JNPR tried to keep up. None of them knew where they were going, and they barely knew why they were going there, but their curiosity had been peaked.

Moments later they all arrived at the massive wooden doors that separated them from Ozpin's office. Without a second of hesitation Elisabeth grabbed the doorknob and attempted to throw the door open, letting out a low growl as the door refused to move.

"I'm busy at the moment." Ozpin's voice was muffled but unmistakable, and Elisabeth let out another low growl.

"I don't give a damn how busy you are, we are talking, and we're talking now." Elisabeth used a tone that no one had ever heard before. They had heard her curse when she dropped something on her foot, or criticize Roland for doing something stupid during class, but this was something else. She sounded like she was ready to rip someone's throat out, and so they all made a mental note to never screw with her.

"I can talk to you later, but for now I have important matters to attend to." Ozpin seemed unphased by the raging faunas, which only angered her more.

"You have three seconds to open the door before I open it for you." Something told RWBY and JNPR that Elisabeth wasn't kidding. When her threat was only greeted with silence, she started her count down.

"Three." Still nothing.

"Two." The word sounded more like a growl at this point.

"One." Elisabeth remembered a time when Roland showed her how to get through a locked door quickly and efficiently, and it made for a good entrance. She raised one leg, pressing her knee to her chest, aimed just above the doorknob where metal greeted wood, and kicked with all her strength.

The door flew open, pieces of the lock flying in all directions as Elisabeth wasted no time going into the room. She had her mind set on finding her friend, and she intended to treat every second like it was an hour.

Ozpin was actually surprised to see his door slam open, and calmly watched as a very upset Elisabeth marched straight towards him. Eight people stood in the now open doorway, staring with wide eyes as Elisabeth slammed her fists down on Ozpin's desk.

"You are going to send me to Roland, and you are going to do it now." Her eyes were filled with fire, but Ozpin remained calm, setting aside the pile of papers he had been filling out and looking the girl dead in the eyes.

"You say that as a statement when it should be a question." Ozpin expected his calm attitude and intelligence to get him through this like it always did. Unfortunately for him, Elisabeth was prepared.

"A question implies you have a choice. And right now-" She brought her face inches away from the man's, increasing the tension in the air. "-A choice is something you do not have."

"And why should I let you go to him? He would be displeased with me for letting you go to such a dangerous place." Ozpin was hiding it perfectly, but Elisabeth's intimidation was working. The girl was truly scary when she was in this kind of mood, the feline-like eyes helping greatly.

"He can get over it. Now get me an airship, and get me out there. And do it now." Elisabeth felt her nails dig into the wood but she didn't care. Let the marks serve as a reminder to Ozpin, so that next time he considered doing this to them he would think twice.

Ozpin wasn't sure which choice was the right one. On one hand, Roland would be very displeased if Ozpin allowed Elisabeth to go, but then again, if he refused the girl's demands he would surely regret it. She had already ruined his door and now she was damaging his desk, proving that this girl was going to find Roland one way or another.

"Fine. I'll send you to him."


	14. Chapter 14: Challengers and Champions

It had been two weeks and Elisabeth was about to lose her mind. Ozpin had warned her that it would take time for him to find proper transport, but she had assumed that meant a few days, not two weeks. Roland could be dead, or dying, or he might not even be in the area anymore. He could have gone anywhere, and if he had decided to run off there was no way they would be able to find him.

Each day felt like an eternity, and every second of Elisabeth's time was spent watching her scroll, hoping that Ozpin would call and tell her that it was time to go. She had chewed her nails all the way down, a habit that had taken years for her to break and was now resurfacing. She couldn't concentrate during class, and most her homework was done last second if at all.

The girl felt like her sanity was teetering on the edge of being lost, the only thing keeping her from completely losing it being the constant support of JNPR and RWBY. The eight had stuck been by her side for the entire ordeal, but her friends could only do so much. She was worried sick about Roland, and she couldn't figure out if it was because he might die, he might leave, or he might come back but end up hating her. There had been many times when she thought about Roland returning only to ask for a new partner, and these were the thoughts that really tore Elisabeth apart.

So the girl did the only thing she could; she waited, and waited, and then waited some more. There was nothing else she could do, she had accepted that, but it didn't make things any easier. All the girl could do is hope and pray, and continue to tell herself that Roland would come back, and when he did things would go back to the way they should be.

So she waited.

* * *

Roland was going to snap. Two weeks in this wasteland was bad enough, but the voices were starting to get to him. He had managed to dial it down to only six, which all had been given number, one through six, and that was what he called them. Those had to be the six things he hated more than anything else. One of them would spring up unannounced, voice its opinion, then disappear, only to be replaced by another one that would say how its opinion was better than the last. It was like the stupid things were holding a council inside the boy's head, and sometimes they would even agree each other, which annoyed Roland even more. It was one thing for the idiots to argue, but when they started to agree and gang up on him was when it got ridiculous.

At the moment two of them, three and five, were having a very heated discussion on the topic of Roland going back or not. Despite the boy's attempts to shut them up the two kept going at it, refusing to allow him any time to think.

In an attempt to ignore the constant assault on his sanity Roland cycled though the modes on his visor, watching as the landscape before him turned red, then blue, then green, then purple and so on. The only Grimm he had run into was a small pack of three or four Beowolfs, which he killed effortlessly. As much as he wanted to avoid any and all fights, he had to admit that he was disappointed. This was Uncharted Land, it was supposed to be filled to the brim with creatures that wanted nothing more than your head on a silver platter, and yet not a single challenge had presented itself.

On the bright side, Roland had managed to fill in a massive area of map. He had been given a multitude of blank canvas for drawing maps on, and after a few practice runs he had managed to make something fairly accurate. It wasn't the best, but it would get the job done.

The boy was in the middle of sketching out an explored area when the voices suddenly stopped. It was very abnormal for them to cease so suddenly, but after a few seconds of silence Roland took it as a blessing and kept working. He's take anything he could get at this point, and silence was like a gift from the heavens. But then he heard something that he had never heard before, and never wanted to hear again.

It was an ear-piercing screech, almost like a Nevermore's but much higher in pitch. It only lasted a few seconds, but moments later three more cries responded to it, each sounding slightly different but unmistakably coming from the same being. The noise sent shivers down Roland's spine, and he flipped his visor to the radar mode, turning his head in all directions as red outlines appeared all around him.

The shapes resembled velociraptors, having two large legs and long tails. Unlike their prehistoric lookalikes, the creatures didn't have two small arms on their torso, instead having two large gill-like slits where the arms of a raptor would normally be. Roland focused on one outline in particular and after a few moments the visor zoomed in, focusing on the creature's head. It appeared to be made out of bone, just like a Nevermore's, and a row of razor-sharp teeth hung out of its top lip. The beast looked small in size, perhaps half the height of Roland, and around five feet long from head to tail.

Roland stood up slowly as he continued to look around, his visor placing a small red box around each of the creatures and displaying a small number in the top right corner of his vision. After turning around almost three times Roland was sure he had seen them all, and the number in the corner horrified him.

Thirty-seven.

Thirty-seven beasts surrounded Roland, and he had no idea what they were or how powerful they could be. Their size made it seem like they wouldn't be able to do much, but Roland had made the mistake of judging his opponents by size many times before, and he intended to take no such risks now.

Roland was about to send a command to his visor, telling it to search the Internet for these creatures, hoping that his classes just hadn't covered them yet. But he remembered that he was in the middle of nowhere, and even if he had Internet, deep down Roland knew that nothing would have come up. He had read book after book on every Grimm that had been discovered, but he had no memory of these beasts. This was something entirely new, and now Roland was in a situation he had never been in before. He had to fight thirty-seven brand new enemies, and he had no knowledge of their fighting styles, their strength, or if he would even be able to beat them.

"Well, this is going to suck."

* * *

**Thirty minutes ahead **

Elisabeth couldn't breathe. The girl's lungs screamed for air but she was unable to inhale. In fact, she couldn't do anything. She felt paralyzed, like every muscle in her body had suddenly locked up and now refused to do their job.

She had been laying on her bed, eyes locked on her scroll as she waited for a message from Ozpin. She had already chewed down the small amount of fingernails she had, a few of her fingers bleeding from where she had bitten too far. The girl nearly dropped the scroll from surprise when it lit up, Ozpin's face appearing in a small box as a small summary of his message was displayed next to it. At first Elisabeth was incredibly excited, ready to go out and find her friend, ready to patch things up and make everything right.

But then she read the message. She read three words that made her feel so indescribably horrible she felt like she had died.

"He's been injured."

* * *

**Present **

Everything happened in a flash. These new Grimm moved fast. Really fast. In seconds half the group had reached Roland, the boy barely having time to draw his swords before the first claw swung towards his face. Roland jumped back just in time, feeling the claw tear a piece of his hood to pieces as it came inches from his face.

_Alright, think. Dodge for now, stay on the defensive. Find out how they fight, how they move, then find their weaknesses and take them down. Everything has a weakness. _

Roland was relieved to hear his own voice inside his head and not one of the other six, but had no time to savor the moment. From what he could tell his opponents fought with their legs, either attempting to pounce on Roland and dig their claws into his body or swinging their legs in kick like motions, using their claws like knives as they tried to slice away at the boy. Each of their reptile-like feet had four black claws on them, and from what Roland could tell each of them acted like weapons rather than body parts.

In seconds Roland could tell that a few of these would be no problem. But in a pack of this size they would prove to be challenging. Their attack patterns were predictable enough, and after the fourth monster took a swing at him Roland had a fairly good idea of what he needed to do. They all had to make a full rotation after they swung a leg at him, which meant that if he dodged the initial attack the beast's back would be left open and unguarded. But with three of these things coming at him at once, finding time to take advantage of that opening would prove difficult.

Deciding to test his theory, Roland went for one of the beasts getting ready to attack him. He waited, watched its movements carefully, then dodged at the last second, feeling another piece of his hood get shredded. The moment he felt his feet touch the ground he lunged forward, thrusting straight out and plunging his sword into the Grimm's side. He withdrew his sword in a heartbeat, watching as the beast gave a terrible cry of pain then fell to the ground, lifeless.

Roland wished he could enjoy the small victory, but he still had thirty-six more of these things to kill. They were starting to swarm him now too, claws coming from all directions as Roland moved as fast as he could, desperately blocking and dodging everything that came his way, managing to take down a few more Grimm. But at this rate he would be overwhelmed in seconds, and he wouldn't be able to move this fast for much longer. Roland fighting style was based around moving at medium speeds to deal medium amounts of damage, and his swords were made to be swung in spinning combos, not in a flurry of motions like Weiss' rapier.

Knowing that he had no other choice Roland began to slowly move backwards, trying to keep as many targets in front of him as possible. The way these things lunged at him made it obvious that his back was a major weak point, and if one of the Grimm managed to jump on him from behind it would probably be the end. But no matter how fast Roland moved one of them always seemed to get behind him, forcing Roland jump out of the way as razor-sharp claws came inches from soft skin.

The more Roland fought the harder and harder it got to kill his attackers. They had started to spin faster, or attack one after the other in rapid succession, making it almost impossible for Roland to get any hits in. The things had been fighting him for less than five minutes and they had already found a way to keep themselves from getting killed, something that confused Roland greatly.

Grimm didn't think, they were supposed to be mindless creatures. But not only did these Grimm appear to intelligent, but they were also working together, protecting each other and keeping themselves alive. Roland could see that behind the first line of beasts that swung at him all the others waited patiently instead of charging straight in, and if the ones in the back saw that one of their own was about to get struck down they would jump forward and attack, protecting their comrade. These Grimm were smart, calculating, and perhaps the scariest of all, they were working together just as well if not better than any human team Roland had ever seen.

The number in his visor was ticking down far slower than Roland needed it to, and inevitably he made a mistake. The Grimm finally figured out that just because the boy was fighting with two swords didn't mean he could defend in two places. Roland had been in the middle of blocking one of the monsters that had swung at his chest when he felt a searing pain shoot through his left leg. He dropped down on one knee and looked up just in time to see one of the monsters rearing its leg back to deal a killing blow. The boy tried to pull his head back far enough to avoid the blow but wasn't fast enough, the impact ended throwing him through the air.

He landed a good distance away, feeling something break as his right shoulder hit the ground first. Roland could feel blood start to pour out of the long, diagonal gash on the left side of his face. The beast's hit hadn't reached bone, but Roland could tell that his left eye wasn't working. Knowing that he didn't have time to dwell on his lack of sight he pushed himself up as far as he could and watched as the back row of Grimm turned and slowly started walking towards him. He was correct in thinking that something was broken as he was greeted with a stinging pain the second he tried to put weight on his right arm.

Roland's visor had cut right through, but it still worked the best it could. A small amount of sparks shot from the severed metal as it started to reroute power, doing its best to not harm its master in the process. Roland had designed it to function even after it had taken a substantial amount of damage, and now it attempted to count the remaining enemies. The machine failed to place the advancing Grimm in little red boxes like normal, but at the moment Roland doubted that would help. All he cared about was how many of the things were left, and after seeing that he had only managed to kill ten, slowly came to terms with the situation.

He wasn't going to survive this, but that didn't mean he was going to lay back and die. As much as Roland would have loved to use his semblance to absolutely destroy the beast he didn't have the necessary energy to do so. That power was awakened by extreme emotions, rage was normally the most successful, and at the moment, Roland had nothing to be angry at. These beasts hadn't harmed anyone Roland cared for, and the only situation that would bring any emotion was the encounter with Elisabeth, and that only made the boy feel grief.

But still, Roland was going out with a bang. He didn't know where his swords were, the had been knocked away when the boy had been hit, so he grabbed one of the pistols from his chest, took aim, and pulled the trigger. Roland's favorite part about using flintlock pistols was the small delay when he fired it. Most people saw it as a hindrance, saying that the delay caused them to miss their mark, but Roland saw it as a calm before the storm, and what a storm it was.

The dust shot exploded from the barrel, leaving behind a cloud of white smoke as it left the gun. Roland always used specially made dust bullets, designed to explode on impact and cause massive amounts of carnage that normal guns could never achieve. Sure, the bullets were almost three times as expensive as regular ammo, but considering the fact that each of Roland's eight guns only shot once, he didn't mind that much.

The extra money paid off just like always, and Roland watched as a large fire explosion took out at least five of the Grimm. The sight of the creatures being blown to bits caused the rest of the group to jump back, now cautious of the new threat. The Grimm had assumed that they had won, their prey being wounded and possibly crippled, an easy kill that would require little to no effort. The group was surprised again when another explosion struck the left side, this time being filled with electricity as the smell of singed flesh filled the air. Six more bodies hit the ground, their skin black and burned, charred bodies blending in with the ebony land.

Roland didn't fire another shot immediately, wanting to see what the group would do. They had stopped walking forward, and now their heads quickly darted between each other, Roland, and the large amount of blood and body parts in the surrounding area. A few of the creatures let out small, high-pitched sounds, resembling the screech Roland had heard before they attacked but much shorter in length. Then, without any warning, they turned and ran away at high speeds, not even bothering to look back. A few waited for the group to get a fair distance away, keeping their eyes locked on Roland before they too turned and ran, leaving a wounded and bleeding boy behind.

At first Roland was confused, wondering why the things had run away. Grimm never retreated, but then again, these weren't the average Grimm, these were far smarter, and much more fearsome. But after a few moments Roland decided to stop thinking and just take it, thankful that he had somehow managed to survive. But his hopes were soon crushed when his visor switched colors on its own, turning to white as an outline of a body appeared onscreen. Words quickly followed, and Roland read them aloud.

"Running scans…"

"Scans complete, condition critical, seek immediate medical attention." As he waited for more words he watched the outline of the body slowly start to change colors in some places. The left leg, right shoulder and a few of the right ribs turned red, along with the left half of the face.

"Warning, blood levels low, estimated time until loss of consciousness due to blood loss: Ten minutes." Roland knew he was hurt, but he didn't think it was that bad. He assumed the machine was just malfunctioning due to the damage, and decided to observe his injuries for himself. What he saw made him realize just how bad the fight had been.

The leg that had been struck had a deep gash starting at his knee and going all the way up to his hip, blood slowly exiting the wound. His chest and stomach were covered in small cuts, none of them very worrying but they still leaked blood just like the boy's leg. As Roland breathed he could tell that a few of his ribs were broken, along with what felt like his right collarbone and possibly his right shoulder. From what he could tell his back was fairly untouched, except for a few small scrapes along the lower half. Roland used his working arm to run a few fingers over the left side of his face, tracing the wound that started just above the left side of his eyebrow and ran over his eye, going over his nose and ending in between his nostrils and his lips.

The doubt he felt for the visor's reading disappeared, and Roland took of the backpack and started searching through it, tossing aside bags of food and canisters of water as he tried to find the small tablet he had been given. Most of the pack was in shreds, but Roland managed to find what he was looking for buried in the bottom, relieved that it hadn't been destroyed during the fight. He pressed the power button at the bottom, watching impatiently as the screen slowly lit up. The moment it turned on he swiped a finger across the screen, opening the home screen and tapping in the little phone icon in the top right corner. A single name appeared in the contacts list, and Roland selected it without hesitation. After a few rings someone picked up, and Roland was overjoyed to hear Ozpin's voice.

"It hasn't been a month." The man's tone was a blank as ever, but it still made Roland feel better.

"I'm hurt. You have ten minutes to get to me before I pass out from lack of blood. I suggest you hurry, the Grimm could get back at any time." Roland suddenly found it very hard to talk, or do anything else for that matter. His entire body felt like it was quickly turning to stone, and his eyelids started to droop slightly. Roland didn't realize it but his voice was weak, to the point that it sounded like a different person.

"What? How hurt? And what do you mean the Grimm could come back?" Through the tablet Roland heard something made from glass hit the ground and smirked slightly as Ozpin's voice turned to one of concern.

"I'll tell you later. Just come get me, I can't…can't…c-can't" Roland felt his body slowly lean to the side, then jerked up, shaking his head and trying to keep himself awake.

"Can't what? What can't you do?" Ozpin was really starting to sound worried.

"Just… Get here… Now…"


	15. Chapter 15: Confessions

Three grey ships shot through the air at top speeds, engines roaring as the pilots pushed the machines to their limits. If Ozpin had managed to pinpoint Roland's position accurately they should get to him in under eight minutes, but that was still much longer than the man would have liked. He had no idea what kind of trouble Roland was in, or what kind of injuries he might have, but he did know that if Roland called to be picked up from a mission early it was serious. The boy wasn't one to give up due to a few scrapes and bruises, and judging by the way Roland had sounded during the call, this was bad.

Ozpin had taken the fastest vehicles he had available, deciding to send out three just incase any Grimm tried to put up a fight. It had taken little to no time at all to get off the ground, the pilots being trained to get their ships up and running in seconds. The moment Ozpin sent an emergency message to them they were going through the startup routine, flipping switches and turning dials as the engines slowly hummed to life.

Now the sounds of the ships were deafening as they raced over the black landscape, heading for the area that Roland's call came from. One ship held Ozpin, one held a full crew of medical staff, and the other was full of combat personnel. The headmaster spared no expenses when it came to his students, and considering he was the reason Roland was out here he figured taking a few extra precautions wouldn't hurt.

It took the ships twelve minutes to get from Beacon to Roland's location, start-up time included, and the moment the ships touched the ground Ozpin was out, running towards the small black figure he could see laying in the dirt. The surrounding area was covered in blood and bodies, giving Ozpin a good idea of what happened. But he didn't recognize the bodies that were scattered about, feeling confusion start to creep up as he gazed at the strange, lifeless monsters. They were Grimm, that much he was sure of, but they weren't like any kind of he had seen before.

Ozpin's attention was torn away from the new Grimm when he reached Roland's body, his heart skipping a beat when he saw the boy. Roland was laying face up, blood seeping from a multitude of wounds across his body. The man called over the medics immediately, yelling for them to hurry as he tried to take stock of the damage. Roland was still breathing, but just barely, his breaths being soft and slow as his chest struggled to rise.

The medics wasted no time when they saw how bad it was. Most of them opened up small boxes they had been carrying and took out a variety of bandages and antibiotics while two of them started to heal the boy with their auras. The blood flow from Roland's leg and face slowed as his body started to glow green and red, but that was all the two managed. They didn't have the necessary equipment to heal Roland fully, not even with their auras.

One of the aura healers stepped back as a bear-faunas stepped in and started cleaning the wound on Roland's leg. The muscles in the boy's face twitched slightly as the medic poured antibiotic small amounts of antibiotic liquid the wound, but he remained unconscious, and moments later the faunas was wrapping bandages around the injury, covering it in multiple layers of white cloth before moving on to repeat the process on Roland's face.

It didn't take long for the medics to do their job, and in record time they had put Roland in a makeshift stretcher and moved him into one of the ships. They all left just as fast as they had come, except for the military ship, which stayed behind a while longer to collect samples and specimens of the Grimm. As much as they wanted to get back home, everyone that had gone out knew that these things needed to be studied and documented, otherwise the threat would only grow.

* * *

This wasn't how things were supposed to be. Roland wasn't supposed to get hurt and get three airships of the highest quality get sent out after him. He was supposed to come back in two weeks, perfectly safe and ready to patch things up. Elisabeth couldn't keep from blaming herself. She had snapped at her partner two weeks ago, and now he was injured because she didn't stop him from going in this suicide mission.

Elisabeth stood on the landing pad, praying that this was just a dream, that she had just fallen asleep looking at her scroll and soon she would wake up, realizing that Roland was fine and he would be back in two weeks. But no matter how much she wished it, she didn't wake up. This was real, and that realization was something that tore Elisabeth to pieces. Everyone had been trying to convince her that this wasn't her fault, but she still couldn't ignore the guilt that ate away at her. This was someone's fault, it had to be, there was always a person who was to blame, but how could she decide who?

She wanted desperately to blame Ozpin. The man had sent Roland on the mission, and so it made sense for him to be the one to take the fall. But every time Elisabeth tried to get angry at the man she wasn't able to. Something deep down told her that he had done this with the best intentions, and she knew that he wasn't trying to kill one of his students on purpose.

The thought of blaming Roland had crossed the girl's mind a few times, but she had never even considered it. What had Roland honestly done? Followed orders, attempted to break the news the Elisabeth, then left in an attempt to keep things from getting worse. The only thing Roland had been was a victim, having no choice but to do as he was told, and now he was injured, possibly worse, simply because he did his job.

Elisabeth knew that it wasn't entirely her fault, but she had no doubt that she had played a massive part. She had literally told Roland to leave, made it seem like she didn't care at all, and now she might never get the chance to apologize for the things she had said.

* * *

It wasn't long before three grey dots appeared in the distance. Only a select few knew what was happening, and those who didn't simply waved it off. It was common for ships to land and takeoff at unexpected times, they did go to a hunter/huntress school after all. But for those who did know what was happening couldn't hide their fear. Elisabeth hadn't told anyone else about Roland's return, which meant that only her, Ozpin, and Glenda knew about the boy's injuries, and all of three of them were incredibly worried.

The moment the ships touched the ground everybody on board rushed out, military staff going their own way while the medics transported Roland as fast as they could. A few of them remembered the last time the boy had gotten hurt, recalling the sight of black tentacles made from what looked like smoke or ash rising up from the boy's wounds and healing him almost immediately. But this time there were no black tentacles that healed Roland, nothing that closed up the wounds and stopped the bleeding. His aura seemed to be completely depleted, his reserves empty after the vigorous battle.

Elisabeth barely managed to see what kind of condition Roland was in, his body being completely surrounded by medics who were all rushing to get the boy proper medical treatment, but the moment she laid eyes on him the girl wished she had just looked away instead. Elisabeth had held out some faint hope that somehow, someway, Roland would only have minor injuries, a few broken bones at the worst. But instead of a few cuts and some fractured bones he was covered in bandages, and his right arm was in a sling. The boy's clothes were in shreds, especially the cloak and hood, but the bandage over the left side of his face scared Elisabeth the most.

She had only seen him for a few seconds before he was rushed off to the medical wing, but even after Roland was long gone the image was still burned into Elisabeth's mind. For a few moments she stood completely still, not a single muscle moving as the image of her friend injured and beaten flashed through her mind. Then, without any warning, Elisabeth's legs gave out and she fell the ground, tears suddenly rushing down her face as she sat on her knees, horrified of the reality that she was living in.

The girl's shoulders heaved between ragged breaths as the sobs took over her body, her mind unwilling to believe that this was happening. She would have kept crying had she not felt a hand on her shoulder, looking up at its owner.

"They don't know when he'll wake up, but they said that he will. I think he'd like it if you were there when he does." Ozpin's words didn't do much, but they did help Elisabeth believe that Roland would be alright. The man was obviously worried as well, the girl could tell just by looking at his eyes, but he still seemed just as strong as ever.

Elisabeth tried to speak but found it impossible, and settled for giving Ozpin a small nod of agreement. The man had to help her stand up, the faunas' knees feeling weak, but soon the two were making their way to the medical wing at a brisk pace as Elisabeth wiped the tears off her face. Elisabeth was still scared of what she might see when they got to Roland's room, but she refused to let the fear get to her. With every step she took Elisabeth repeated the same words in her head over and over.

_He'll be fine._

* * *

Never in her life had time passed so slowly. The girl would look at the clock, check the time, look away for what felt like hours, then check it again to see that only a few seconds had gone by.

Elisabeth and Ozpin both sat it dead silence, the only noise being the foot steps of the occasional nurse or doctor that passed through the small waiting room. Elisabeth had so many questions she wanted to ask, some for the doctors, others for Ozpin, but she had no idea where to start. The faunas felt sick, and the usual comfort of wrapping her tail around her legs did nothing to soothe her nerves.

"Why did you send him out there?" Elisabeth didn't know if now was the right time, but she needed answers. Ozpin had been expecting her question for a long while, but he had no idea how to answer it. How was he supposed to explain it to the girl in a way that she would understand?

"It was meant to be a test… We wanted to see if Roland could still perform just as well while being emotionally conflicted." Ozpin expected to see the girl jump up and begin yelling at him, but instead Elisabeth just stared at the floor as her eyes widened slightly.

"You set this up… You knew I would get worried and freak out… You used me…"

"Elisabeth, it's not like that. We had multiple plans for different situations, but in the end we always needed something to get in his way. We were worried about putting you two together because if something happened to you, Roland might lose it completely."

"So I'm just a pawn. I never mattered that much." Elisabeth wasn't even angry. Maybe if the situation was different, but not now. She felt completely exhausted, lacking the energy it would take to yell at the man.

"That's not what I meant. Roland rebels enough as it is. You should know, you're just the same as him, that's shy we put you two together. Neither of you are as scared as your peers, and I don't mean combat wise. You both make it incredibly obvious when you disagree with something, and if you want something you're willing to do almost anything to get it. The fear of getting kicked out of the school doesn't even phase you two, and that is something I admire greatly." Ozpin watched as the girl's faunas ears perked up slightly, no longer being pressed against the top of her head. "What do you mean?"

"What do you think I mean? Look at what you two have done in just one month. You've both yelled at me, and just two weeks ago you kicked in my door and left claw-marks on my desk. You don't care what happens to you, all you two care about is what's right, and if you find something you know is wrong you stand up for it. Those are the reasons you two haven't been kicked out of this school, plus you have your combat experience. Hell, Roland grabbed Cardin by the neck and held him outside a window, so do you think he cares about what will happen to him?"

"So, you're saying we're special?"

"Exactly. Do you honestly think anyone from RWBY or JNPR would do what you did? I don't mean to offend them, but I highly doubt any of them would burst into my office and talk to me the way you did. You and Roland stand up for whats right, even if you're risking your education or your lives to do so. But I needed to make sure that even after you both went through something as devastating as losing each other you still had that same fire inside you."

"Looks like we failed the test…" As reassuring and helpful as Ozpin was being, his words wouldn't fix the problems between Elisabeth and her partner. The things she had said to Roland the day he left repeated in her mind, and the faunas wondered how she was going to be able to face her partner again. He was completely unpredictable when it came to emotions, and all Elisabeth could do was wonder what she was going to say to him when they met again. She didn't have to think for long.

"Excuse me." A nurse poked her head in the room and waited as Elisabeth and Opzin snapped their heads in her direction.

"He's stable. You may come see him now." The two wasted no time following the nurse through the hallways, both slightly anxious. Elisabeth's nerves had been calmed by Ozpin, but every step she took made her second guess this more and more.

Ozpin wasn't feeling any better, just as nervous about seeing the boy. Roland wasn't the kind of person who forgave people just because they said sorry, but Ozpin knew he deserved it. Not only had he sent the boy into an unimaginably dangerous environment that he was not prepared for, but he also failed to prepare Roland for the enemies in the area. A new type of Grimm was an alarming discovery, and it wasn't fair that Roland was the one who had discovered it.

The nurse stopped suddenly in front of one of the many doors that lined the hall. "Here he is. We request you call us when he wakes up, he might have emotional or mental trauma in addition to his physical injuries. As far as we know he will survive, but he took a beating. His left eye is completely blinded, his right collarbone, arm, and three ribs are broken, and his right shoulder was dislocated." The nurse's words only made the two feel worse, but they were thankful that Roland would survive.

The nurse walked away, leaving the two alone standing alone, neither wanting to be the first to step into the room. Elisabeth was thankful when Ozpin stepped forward and pushed the door open, holding it for the girl as they both walked in.

Roland was in a state that they both expected. He laid in a hospital bed, covers pulled up to his chest, left arm by his side while his right rested across his chest in a cast and a sling. The entire left side of his face was covered in bandages, and his bed was surrounded by a variety of medical machines, most of which were connected to him through needles and patches that ran up his left arm.

"When do you think he'll wake up?" Elisabeth asked. It didn't take an expert to figure out Roland was asleep; his eyes were closed and his lips curved down into the natural frown that Elisabeth was oh-so used to, along with soft breaths that came so quietly some would question if the boy was even breathing at all.

"If I had to guess, tomorrow at the latest. Last time he was in here he woke up in less than an hour, and not only did he wake up in less than an hour, but he also took it upon himself to pull out his IVs, stand up, get changed, then walk out of the medical wing like he was on a Sunday stroll. I honestly wouldn't be surprised if we wakes up before midnight." Ozpin remembered the day he had been sitting in his office when a very confused and worried nurse called him, explaining that not only was Roland not in his room, but he had simply walked out.

"Do you think he can hear us?" The question was a little cliché, but Elisabeth wanted to know.

"I have no idea. But if he can, would you like me to give you two some time alone?" Ozpin had never liked hospital visits such as this anyway. He saw no point in sitting in a room staring at someone's unconscious body in dead silence.

Elisabeth didn't know how to respond. If Roland couldn't hear her she would be wasting time, but then if he could it would make things a lot easier. "Well… If you don't mind…"

"Of course not. I'm wanted in the science labs to examine the new Grimm anyway. If he wakes up, try to keep him in bed. We don't need him leaving blood trails all over the campus because he was too stubborn to let himself heal completely." Ozpin walked towards the door, smiling slightly at the thought of Roland trying to walk out of the hospital wing with his arm in a cast and only one eye. One day the boy's complete disregard for physical pain would get him killed, but for now imagining nurses and doctors trying to keep him from leaving was something that Ozpin would have paid to see.

Elisabeth watched the headmaster leave, thinking about following him and just putting this ordeal aside till later. She desperately wanted to talk to Roland, but she was also horrified of what he would say, and so talking to him while he couldn't respond seemed like the best option.

The faunas grabbed a chair that had been sitting in the corner of the room and pulled it to the left side of Roland's bed, then sat down and thought about where she should start. After two weeks she had planned out multiple apologies word for word, memorizing exactly what she would say. But now, none of it felt like the right thing to say, and now Elisabeth had no idea what to do. She highly doubted anyone else would come visit Roland, which meant that she had plenty of time to spare, but that wouldn't make things any easier.

She had the perfect opportunity to say her sorry, and now the girl had no idea what to say.

* * *

For two full hours Elisabeth sat there, unaware of how much time had passed while she thought about what to say. How was she going to explain her outburst to Roland? There was no way he would forgive her after what she said, and she wouldn't blame him. None of this had been the boy's fault, yet that was exactly how Elisabeth had acted. The girl knew that there was nothing she could do to make up for what had happened, but she might as well try.

"What happened here? Everything was going great, then this. How do things even change this fast? How can you go from eating breakfast in the morning to completely screwing up in the evening? We were so happy, everything was so amazing, and then I ruined it all. I just don't understand. I know you don't like sorrys, you've told me many times that you think saying sorry is a waste of time, but I don't know what else to do. I nearly lost you because of what I did, and I can't just act like that never happened." Elisabeth though that she might be saying a bit too much, making things longer than they had to be, but it was relieving to say these things, even if the person she was speaking to might not be able to hear her.

"I'm just so sorry Roland. I want to take it back so much, I swear I do, but I know I can't. I'll never be able to imagine what I put you through, and I'm not going to act like I know what its like. I've had my fair share of challenges, but those were nothing in comparison to what you've been through." Elisabeth lightly wrapped her fingers around the boy's left hand, not sure what she was doing but deciding to go with it anyway. No matter what she did at this point she doubted she could make things worse.

"I just don't want to lose you Roland…" The faunas looked at his face, wishing he would wake up. She wanted to go back to making jokes and wrestling and getting into petty arguments about Roland barely ever wearing anything besides his combat clothes and complaining that he barely ever wore a shirt inside their dorm room. She let herself get lost in her memories as she recalled all the trouble she would get into with Roland, smirking as she thought about all the times Roland suggested skipping class and going to climb a tree or something other than sitting through another one of Port's lectures.

Elisabeth nearly jumped out of her seat when she felt Roland's hand tighten around hers. His eye opened slightly, greeting Elisabeth with a familiar green orb. She could tell just by the look in his eye that he was still exhausted, but other than that the green circle still held the same energy as always.

"Come closer…" His voice was weak, and the bandage that covered the left side of his face and wrapped under his chin didn't help either.

Elisabeth's heart felt like it was going to fly out of her chest if it beat any faster, but the girl scooted closer to Roland anyway. He gestured for her to move again and she did so, to the point that she was sitting right beside his head. She felt his hand let go of her's and wondered what he was going to do next. Elisabeth expected Roland to say something about their fight, or how her sorry meant nothing, or how she was wasting her time being there.

What Elisabeth did not expect was for Roland to grab her by the collar of her shirt and pull her forward as he suddenly sat up, causing Elisabeth's mind to race as she tried to figure out what was happening. Her body was trying to let out a natural _Eep! _at the sudden movement, but was silenced when she felt Roland do something very, very unexpected.

He kissed her.

Despite the speed that he had pulled Elisabeth forward it was surprisingly soft, Elizabeth's heart soaring as she realized what was happening. This was the last thing she thought Roland would do, especially due to the fact that he made it obvious that he hated personal displays of affection. In the past, even if it was just a hug he would either tell the person to let go of him or squirm away like some sort of snake, acting like the affection burned.

The kiss ended all too soon in Elisabeth's opinion, she hadn't even noticed that her eyes had drifted closed, but she could still feel Roland's face inches away from her's.

"You talk too much…" His voice was little more than a whisper, and after he finished he let go of Elisabeth's collar and fell back into bed, giving a slight grunt of pain before losing consciousness almost immediately. Elisabeth stayed in the same place, half standing half sitting as she thought about what had just happened. It was just like Roland do something like this; drop the mic then walk off the stage without a single word.

But that wasn't always a bad thing.


	16. Chapter 16: Understanding

** He guys, sorry for the long chapters lately, but a few of these scenes have been building up for a long while now. Also, I need a favor from a few of you. I feel like there's something missing from the story, like there are things that should be there that just aren't. I feel like it's a bit bland at places. So I was hoping you guys could tell me if my thinking is correct? I just want this to be as amazing as possible for you guys, and at the moment I feel like I'm not producing anywhere near that. **

Muffled voices and a few small footsteps were all it took to wake him up. A single eye shot open as he breathed in sharply, letting his senses tell him about his surroundings rather than his eyes. It was dark, pitch-black in fact, but that was just the way he liked it. Despite being human he had always had amazing night vision, but at the moment all he could see was a white ceiling.

For a few seconds everything was fine, the world seeming to be at its simplest. There was no noise, no light, nothing but his thoughts. Then the memories started flooding in, accompanied by a mix of soreness and stinging pain that radiated from the right side of his body. Everything ached, and only now did he realize that one of his eyes wasn't working. He tried to sit up but the searing pain from his ribs and shoulder made it impossible, and so he scanned the room for any possible way to get help. Being a loner and never asking for assistance made for a good reputation, but in this situation trying to stick it out and be tough wouldn't do any good.

His eyesight was blurry from the confusing mix of memories and pain, but he managed to see a small red button on the wall just above his head. He raised his left arm and slammed his hand against it repeatedly, assuming it would do something to get someone's attention.

A group burst through the door before his arm could fall back to the bed. They had gotten here much faster than he had thought was possible, but he could question their speed later. At the moment, all he cared about was making the pain stop, and not just the physical kind. The stings and aches were quickly outdone by vivid images of raptor-like Grimm and a never-ending black landscape. He used his good hand to cover his face, trying to hide from the terrifying monsters as the medical staff around him tried to calm him down.

A nurse removed his hand and he could see her lips moving but couldn't hear anything. He doubted her words mattered, but hearing someones voice besides the six that now started to pierce his mind would have helped. Her lips continued to move as she looked at him, face calm but eyes filled with panic. The voices in his head all tried to talk about something different, speaking of a headmaster and a faunas with black hair and purple eyes, but it only confused him more.

Then, everything stopped. The voices were silenced, and the pain left just as quickly as it had come. The images of monsters and black soil slowly dissipated, letting him return to reality. He felt a needle exit his arm, and suddenly he could hear again. The nurse that had been attempting to speak to him said something about dust treatment, and the doctor she had spoken to agreed. He wanted to listen more, desiring to hear human voices that made him feel safe, but his eyesight started getting weaker and weaker. His eyelid slowly fell lower until the world went black.

Roland hadn't even noticed that his face was covered in tears, nor that he had been screaming in pain and shouting about monsters and voices.

* * *

Roland woke up, but he didn't open his eye immediately. He could hear the breathing of two people, one being right beside him and the other sounding like they were at the foot of the bed. Roland didn't have to open his eyes to figure out that one of them was Elisabeth, considering he could identify the girl from a mile away. He guessed the other was probably Ozpin or someone from RWBY, and decided to open his eyes, knowing that sitting there pretending to be asleep wasn't doing any good.

The first thing Roland noticed was that he didn't have bandages on his face anymore. Most of the right half of his body was still covered in the annoying white cloth, but the feeling of fresh air on the previously covered skin was incredibly refreshing. His left eye still didn't work, but by this point Roland had accepted his loss of sight, and now focused on being thankful for still having one eye.

The room was bright, sunlight pouring in from an uncovered window and stinging Roland's eye. He was right in thinking that Ozpin and Elisabeth were his visitors, and neither of them noticed him being awake until he tried to sit up.

"Woah woah woah, you need to stay down. You're still hurt, but the dust managed to heal you fairly well." Elisabeth placed a hand on Roland's chest and lightly pushed him back down, giving a small smile of reassurance. She was surprised when he complied and slowly laid down, resting his head against a pillow and staring at the ceiling.

"What do you mean the dust? What does dust have to do with this? And how long have I been asleep? And for the love of all that is good and holy will someone _cover that damn window." _Roland had plenty of questions, but he figured that was a good place to start.

"Slow down Roland, I'll explain it. You've been out for a week now, but you've woken up before this. They said you probably wouldn't remember, so don't strain yourself. Your wounds would have taken months to heal on their own, so they gave you new treatments involving dust. It accelerated the healing process, but your body is still in pretty rough shape. Your right arm and collarbone are still broken, and a few of your ribs are still bruised. The wound on your face and leg have healed completely though."

"When can I leave?" If there was one thing Roland wanted it was to be out of the hospital wing. The white walls and abnormal silence made him feel uncomfortable, which was only made worse by being bedridden.

"That depends on what the doctors decide. They think they can let you out tomorrow, but that depends on the amount of side effects from the dust." Ozpin decided to take the reins, knowing that Elisabeth didn't fully understand the treatment herself. Roland let out a long grown.

"What kind of side effects are we talking about?"

"Well, you probably don't realize it, but your eyes, or eye rather, has started changing color." This time Roland sat up fully despite Elisabeth's attempts to keep him down, not caring about the sudden sting that radiated from his right arm.

"I'm sorry, _my eye changes color? _How is that possible?" Even as he spoke Roland's good eye turned dark purple, bringing an amused smile to Ozpin's face.

"It changes based on what you feel at the moment. The doctors gave me a chart actually." Ozpin opened his scroll and sorted through a few files before opening one up and scrolling through the large number of boxes that appeared on-screen. "Here we are. I'll just give you the basic emotions for now. Blue is happiness or comfort, green is discomfort, brown is sadness or depression, and red is anger, obviously. They say you'll be able to tell when it changes by a small shift in your vision. The edges of your eye will be rimmed with the current color of your eye. Or so I'm told." The small hint of smugness in Ozpin's voice did little to ease Roland's mind. In fact, it did the exact opposite.

"So let me get this straight. Half my body is broken, my eye changes color depending on my emotions, my other eye doesn't even work, and to top it all off I'm stuck in a medical wing for who knows how long. Oh, and did I mention I'm so emotionally conflicted and confused at the moment that I'm surprised my eye isn't all the colors of the rainbow!" Roland hated being confused, or not knowing what was happening, and so being stuck in a situation like this made him feel like his head was going to explode.

"That's pretty spot on. But, there are some major upsides. For starters, you managed to map out over half of the area you were sent to, which is enough for us to start expanding slowly. Secondly, you discovered the Grimm, giving humanity vital knowledge in our fight against the monsters." Ozpin took a sip of his coffee, convinced that his words would help the boy feel better.

"Yeah, about those Grimm. You have no idea how hard it is to express my displeasure with you without ripping your head off? You nearly killed me! Again! I expected a swarm of Beowolfs, _maybe _a Deathstalker or two, but instead I nearly get eaten by a pack of velociraptors!" Roland wasn't even close to feeling better.

"Theres' a lot more to the Grimm than we originally thought. You should actually recognize them, considering your semblance."

"Wait, what does his semblance have to do with those things?" Elisabeth was starting to grow almost as confused as Roland.

"Excellent question Elisabeth. Go on Ozpin, explain." Both of them stared straight at Ozpin, who now realized that his choice of words could have been better.

"Well, these Grimm aren't actually _new. _Their species was supposed to have been wiped out many, many years ago, in an event called _The Darkest Sunrise._" Ozpin watched Roland's eyes widen. Elisabeth's head darted between the man and the boy, wondering if those words should have some meaning to her.

"What do you know about that?" Roland's voice changed drastically. Now he was incredibly serious, a tone he only used when there was no room for joking.

"Um, what is that exactly? The Dark Sunset or whatever?" Elisabeth didn't think she had ever felt so clueless in her entire life.

"The Darkest Sunrise. It's a long story." Roland didn't even look at the girl when he spoke, instead keeping eye contact with Ozpin as an unsettling silence found its way into the room.

"One that I think would be better if Roland explained it. I'm wanted elsewhere anyways." And with that Ozpin left, perhaps a little too quickly, leaving a stunned Elisabeth in his wake. The faunas had no idea what had just happened, but she intended to find out.

"Well, I'm in the mood for a story. Go on Roland, _explain._" Elisabeth's playful tone and warming smile helped Roland relax a little, but that wouldn't make things any easier. The boy let out a troubled sigh, then started recalling the history that he had studied so many times.

"It was a long time ago, just when man came about. We were fighting the Grimm as hard as we could, but it wasn't enough. Then we discovered dust, but contrary to what you've probably been taught, we didn't start winning straight away. We didn't know how dust worked or how to use it properly, all we knew was that it killed Grimm and kept us alive. Around this time is when the first person to carry The Heart of Darkness came around, and that's where it gets interesting. His real name was never recorded, but he was called Night, due to the semblance. He was the one the figured out how to use dust and how to integrate it into weapons. He taught others how to wield dust's power, and in the blink of an eye we were winning. Small houses turned into villages, which then turned into towns, until we had a small kingdom built up. But the Grimm were getting better and better." Roland paused to regain his breath and collect his thoughts, making sure he didn't forget anything.

"At this time, Night was the closest to a leader we had. You can easily find copies of his personal journal if you look hard enough, and they tell you everything. He struggled with the semblance, just like me, and he didn't want to be a leader. He didn't like attention, or being looked up to, but that's what everyone was doing. He did the best he could and eventually convinced someone else to take over for him. I'm named after that man, who was known as Roland the Savor. But his story ins't important to this, the main focus is Night. Time passes, the exact amount is never said, but eventually the small kingdom we had built up gets attacked, and in a day it falls. The deaths were said to be in the thousands, but still the survivors fought on. Skip ahead a few hours and eventually they all get pinned down." Roland took a deep, troubled breath.

"So basically, Roland and Night had become very, very good friends. They were said to be inseparable, and even though Night had made it obvious that he hated the idea of making big decisions Roland had always gone to him for advice. But during the battle, Roland was killed by a Grimm, and that was when it all happened. Night lost it completely. The Heart of Darkness is fueled by emotions, and out of all of them, rage is the most powerful. Seeing his only friend get struck down by a creature of darkness pushed Night too far. There were many witnesses to what happened, and all of them wrote down what they had seen. All of it, no matter where you go, is always the exact same." Roland's voice started to falter now, but Elisabeth had no idea why this saying this would mess with him.

"The stars in the sky disappeared and the moon was blocked out. All sound ceased. For ten full seconds, everything stopped. Nothing, not even the Grimm moved an inch, and all that could be heard was a single cry of agony from Night. Then, according to the records, the semblance took over. His eyes turned pitch black, pure darkness circled his body, engulfing him in black flames. His fingers were covered by black smoke that hardened into metal until he had claw-like fingers, and a pair of wings erupted from his back. Grimm tried to attack him but didn't even come close to piercing his aura, bouncing off like flies hitting a bug zapper. Night just stood there, black eyes watching the creatures trying to attack him. Then, it was all over. One, single wave of darkness erupted from him, racing across the landscape, killing any Grimm it touched. Its said that it all happened in seconds. One moment it seemed like they would all die, and the next all the Grimm we turned to ash." Roland paused, seemingly done with his history lesson. Elisabeth was silent for a few seconds, but then she started thinking of questions.

"What happened to Night? Did he die there?"

"No one really knows for sure. They say he ran off into the woods after he got control of his semblance and was never seen again. Most people think he just grew old and died out there."

"Most?"

"Well, there are thirteen that have had the semblance, me included, and out of that nine of them have had unnaturally long lives. Some people thought that he just kept living, and out of the small amount that know the story, some think he's still alive today."

"What? That's impossible, he would have to be thousands of years old!"

"It still wouldn't surprise me if he's alive. I've researched my twelve friends, found out everything possible. One of them lived to be three hundred and ninety-two, and she only died because she was killed by an assassin. But that's a different story for a different day."

"Almost four hundred? No, no way. That's impossible!"

"Elisabeth, we live in a world of flying ships and crystals that explode into lighting and fire. We fight monsters and do so by leaping thirty plus feet into the air then landing without a scratch. There's a lot of stuff that shouldn't be impossible but is."

The faunas thought about what Roland just said, her argument being struck down by the boys logic. "Still doesn't make sense…" She mumbled under her breath, deciding to let the subject drop for now. "But you tell this story like you were there. How much have you read? And why weren't we taught about this?"

"A lot. I spent as much time as I could out of the orphanage, and the only place I had to go was the library. I had to hunt down any information about my semblance, but eventually I found a gold mine. One thing led to another, and soon I knew everything there was to know. I found copies of personal journals, small textbooks, research diaries, the whole thing. As for why it isn't taught, I suppose it really isn't that important. Think, if you were a teacher, would you want to talk about a brave warrior who built up humanity and died valiantly in battle, or talk about the guy with the uncontrollable semblance and ended up wiping out an entire species of Grimm because he completely lost it?"

"But your semblance still seems like a very important thing. People should know about it."

"That's the thing though. When you think about it, people really shouldn't. The Heart of Darkness is incredibly rare, so rare in fact that throughout history there has never been two people living at the same time who had it. I'm the first one to have it in over a hundred years, to give an example. There have been entire generations that lived and died without ever having to worry about someone like me. It makes no sense to teach it, or even acknowledge its existence."

It didn't make sense to Elisabeth at all. Roland's semblance should be a big deal, considering the amount of power he had, but this was obviously something he had thought long and hard about. The boy was a philosopher, having a very good understanding of the world around him, which also meant that once he had an idea about something it was very hard to change his mind. Beating him in an argument about said topic was even harder as he had a response for every argument, always having reasons that would best anyone else's.

"But enough with that, you can ask any questions you have, which I'm sure you have plenty, later. For now, we need to talk." Roland's words made Elisabeth's heart stop.

"What do you mean? We've been talking… Haven't we? Hehe…" Elisabeth desperately hoped she could just play it off. She knew Roland would want to talk, but that didn't make it any easier.

"Very funny. Now then, in the words of our dearest headmaster, I'll make this brief. I know you're blaming yourself." For the first time in over three weeks Roland and Elisabeth made eye contact, but the faunas found it very hard to hold.

"Of course I have… It was my fau-"

"Nope, stop right there. Not another word." Roland held up his good hand to make sure his point got across. Elisabeth was very scared of what he would say next, her heart seeming to jump to her throat as she waited for the boy to speak.

"Here's whats gonna happen. You are going to stop blaming yourself this instant. Got it?"

Elisabeth was going to try to speak but was cut off by Roland moving his hand closer to her face.

"Got it?" He said, a little more softly this time. The girl gave small nod in response, figuring she would be cut off again if she tried to talk.

"Good." Roland dropped his hand but still kept eye contact with Elisabeth. "Now then, here's what I'm gonna do." Without any warning Roland cupped Elisabeth's face and pulled her closer, almost out of her chair, and softly pressed his lips against hers. Whether it was a good idea or not he had no idea, but the fact that Elisabeth seemed to be leaning more into the kiss than away from it was a good sign.

Elisabeth had to fight to keep in a whine when she felt Roland pull away. "The memory of the first time I did that is a little hazy. I decided that a refresher wouldn't hurt anyone." Elisabeth had figured that Roland remembering the first would bring panic, but she hardly cared about that now. For a few seconds they sat in silence, their minds going blank as they looked each other in the eyes. It would take a long tome For Elisabeth to get used to seeing one of Roland's eyes be milk-white instead of its familiar green.

"So does this mean we're… A thing now?" Roland's words caused Elisabeth's mind to snap back to reality, a small smile spreading across her face.

"I don't know, does it?" She laughed, amused at the genuine confusion in Roland's voice.

"No idea. I've never been in a relationship before, I've got no clue how any of this works." Roland said as he slowly laid back down, letting out a quiet sigh of relief as the strain was taken off his back.

"Wait, you've never dated anyone before? How is that even possible?" Elisabeth laughed, figuring that Roland had to have had some romantic experience.

"Uh, orphan with uncontrollable power that lights me on fire with black flames. That's a title that usually turns the ladies away." Despite his attempts to be serious a few chuckles escaped Roland as he spoke.

"Hm, understandable. But to answer your original question, yes, I suppose we are _a thing _now." They both shared a small laugh then sat in silence for a few minutes, thinking about anything that crossed their minds.

"Oh, and Elisabeth?"

"Yeah?"

"I didn't get to tell you when I left, but you're an asshole."

They laughed at that too, both overjoyed to have the other back. Silence quickly descended upon the room again, and again they both sat and let their minds wonder. A few minutes later Elisabeth was going to tell Roland she was going to leave until she noticed the boy had fallen asleep. Elisabeth couldn't help but smile as she thought about her experience with the boy.

Things might not have been the exact same as before, but this was the kind of change they would both welcome with open arms.


	17. Chapter 17: Friends

It took three more days for Roland to be released from the medical wing, which meant that everyone that worked there had a bad time. Every chance he got Roland asked if he could leave, and three times he attempted to sneak out. He ended up causing so much trouble that the staff actually had to put guards outside his door to keep him from leaving and hurting himself. No one understood why he would go through so much effort to get out, but they did understand that sooner or later Roland was going to get out. They finally let him go when a nurse walked in on the boy trying to climb out the window via rope he had made from his bed sheets. The fact that Roland was on the fourth floor and willing to drop nearly three floors to get away made it clear that keeping him here was, ironically, going to cause more harm than letting him out.

It had been almost two weeks since the mission and rumors had traveled fast. It had started due to Yang explaining to Professor Port why Roland was listed under the "on school grounds" tab on the attendance list but wasn't in class. Normally this would have been a perfectly acceptable thing to do, but Yang had decided to announce the reasons in front of the entire class, sparking theories that spread like wildfires. It had begun innocently enough, people whispering to each other about Roland's mission and how he had gotten gravely injured in a fight against an unheard of enemy. None of his friends paid the rumors any mind until the innocent explanation turned into a full force story.

Now the widely believed idea was that Roland had taken out an entire army of Grimm in the Uncharted Lands and returned without a scratch on him. In less than two weeks a boy who next to no one noticed was suddenly the talk of the town, sporting a celebrity status as his name quickly spread into the nearby town. Shopkeepers and civilians alike were all familiar with the story of the boy who had "made a massive sacrifice for the good of mankind, making it possible for humans to expand outward and gain power."

So, when Roland stepped into the fresh air, he was immediately swarmed. One minute he was feeling a slight shiver from the cold wind, the next his back was against a wall as a mass of students all tried to talk to him at once.

Being noticed was one of the things Roland hated the most. He had dedicated his life to becoming the most unnoticeable individual possible. His clothes were black so he could blend into the shadows, his deeps voice made it easy to speak quietly, and he had seemed to be born with a natural ability to disappear, even when standing in plain sight. Having a large group of students corner him made Roland feel like he was going to throw up. They all babbled on and on about how he was a hero and autographs and he was pretty sure one girl tried to hug him, which he did not agree with at all.

"Alright! That's enough!" Roland's jaw nearly dropped at how quickly the crowd became silenced, but he regained his posture quickly. "Now then, most of my right side is still broken, I'm down an eye, and my leg is still incredibly sore. So if one of you, _and I mean only __**one, **_will tell me why you all have sudden interest involving myself I would be very grateful." The number of confused stares brought a scowl to his face.

_Bunch of idiots… _Roland thought, deciding to forget his attempt to get an explanation and starting to push his way through the crowd while ignoring any and all attempts to get his signature. These people never paid him any mind before, so now seemed like a good time to return the favor. He had no idea why they were so worked up, or why he had any part of it, but he intended to find out. But first, he had a certain black-haired purple-eyed faunas he wanted to see.

After all, she didn't even know he had been released and Roland loved surprising her.

* * *

The walk back to his room was a long and eventful one. Every time Roland turned a corner a new group of people would start following him, adding to the increasingly annoying crowd of people.

This was only made worse by the new difficulties that losing an eye brought. Roland found it difficult to keep his balance at first, always feeling like he was leaning too far to the right. Every time he tried to correct this he ended up slamming a shoulder into a nearby wall. His depth perception was off as well, so whenever Roland tried to turn a corner he would change direction too early and face plant into a wall.

When he finally got back to his room he felt like he had just walked for miles. Roland had busted his lip in three different places and his nose was bleeding at an alarming rate. His right arm burned due to being slammed into a wall once, a particularly painful experience considering Roland's forearm and collarbone were still broken. But he was finally back, and hopefully Elisabeth wouldn't mind a few bloodstains on his clothes.

It was a completely new experience for Roland, being in a relationship. He doubted he would tell anyone, but Elisabeth was the first person he had ever kissed. The boy regretted doing it when he was half-asleep the first time, but his second try made up for it. He didn't care what anyone said about human-faunas relationships or how they were wrong, all he cared about was the girl who stood on the opposite of the wooden door that he was now in front of. He didn't bother thinking about how long it would last. Those kinds of thoughts brought uncertainty, and instead Roland focused on enjoying what he had. The future was the future and now was the present, and so Roland would deal with any problems that came along later.

It took a couple tries to get his hand on the doorknob, but after a few attempts Roland managed to get the door open, joyfully stepping into the familiar room that always made him feel safe. But instead of seeing the usual layout the room was pitch-black. Normally this would have made Roland feel even better as the boy loved the dark and always took every opportunity to shroud himself in blackness and become invisible to most. But the door was unlocked, so Elisabeth was inside, and despite the girl's attempts to hide it, it was painfully obvious that she hated the dark.

Roland's mind started forming as many explanations as it could come up with while his left hand instinctively reached behind his left shoulder, expecting to feel the cool handle of one of his swords. Roland's heart dropped when he remembered that his swords had been knocked from his grasp during the fight with the Grimm and now they might be gone for good. He was still ready for a fight nonetheless, his mind assuming the worst until he heard something that gave it all away. A small little squeak of excitement.

A squeak that always came from a girl who wore a red cloak and couldn't contain her energy. Roland smirked.

"A shame. It would have worked if you hadn't given it away Ruby." The lights flicked on and the scene before him made Roland's smile grow.

Streamers and banners were everywhere, covering the room in a mix of colors so randomly placed they would give a rainbow a run for its money. In the dead center of the room a giant, blue banner hung from the ceiling, the words "Welcome Back" hastily painted on it in green. The members of JNPR and RWBY stood underneath, except for Yang, who Roland guessed was the one manning the light switch. They all wore party hats and held massive red cylinders that Roland assumed were filled to the brim with confetti. He assumption was confirmed when Nora pointed hers at Roland with the grin of a madwoman on her face.

"SURPRISE!"

"NORA DON'T YOU DA-" Roland's vision was suddenly filled with color as an unnecessarily loud _Boom. _Unfortunately poor Pyrrha was not expecting such a loud sound and ended up triggering hers by accident, shooting Juan at point-blank range with a barrage of color. Juan then stumbled into Nora who smacked Ren in the head with her confetti cannon, causing another burst of color to fill the room as Ren accidentally hit the trigger. Out of pure excitement Ruby triggered her's, followed by Blake and Weiss who both thought they had missed the signal.

Surprisingly enough Yang had decided to not have a cannon, and now the blond stood at Roland's side and watched as the scene of chaos unfolded before her. The air was filled with colored pieces of paper but the two could still see their friends, and just when they thought it was over, someone slipped. Like a line of dominoes they all fell down, each person grabbing someone else in an attempt to stay up, dragging that person down with them and causing the cycle to repeat until everyone besides Yang and Roland laid on the floor.

"That was the most amazing thing I've ever seen… I'm not even mad about Nora blasting me in the face with confetti anymore. In fact, I don't think I'll ever be upset about anything ever again."

"Is it possible to rewind time? Because I need that on video."

* * *

Roland refused to let them know but he missed everyone more than they could ever imagine. He even welcomed the return of Yang's terrible puns and Ruby's constant demand for sweets. Elisabeth had joined the group moments after the colorful explosions and her and Roland had an excellent time telling the others that they were dating. Roland wasn't surprised when their reactions consisted mainly of "It's about time" where as Elisabeth was slightly taken back.

"What do you mean _it's about time?" _Elisabeth asked accusingly.

"Are you kidding? You two were total flirts! We even placed bets on how long it would take for you two to get together. Speaking of which." Yang pulled a small pouch out of her pocket and tossed it to Ren, then tossed another to Ruby. The other seven did the same thing, Weiss scowling slightly as she handed her money over to Ruby. Roland snickered slightly as he watched his friends exchange lien, not surprised in the least that they had put bets on his relationship.

"So what led you two to thinking that we would take this long?" Roland asked, unable to keep a smile from his face.

"I knew you'd take your time. You're not one to rush things." Ren placed the pouches in a small pile next to him and gave a small chuckle, happy that he had won.

"What he said. I actually barely won this. I said it would take you two a month and a half to two months to finally hit it off." Ruby did the same as Ren, piling up her new-found wealth with a satisfied smile on her face.

"You guys are jerks…" Elisabeth mumbled, crossing her arms over her chest and looking at the floor to hide her slight blush.

"Hey now, _I'm _supposed to be the sour one, don't you go and steal my reputation." Roland laughed, giving Elisabeth a slight bump on the shoulder then turning his attention back to his friends. "So, how exactly did you all know when I would get out?"

"We didn't. This has been up for almost a week now. We all took turns watching for you, and the moment Nora saw you we all dashed over here." Pyrrha explained, satisfied that the plan had worked. Well, it had worked to an extent. The explosion of confetti was not originally part of the plan.

"Wait, so Elisabeth, you lived in this place with all this for a week?" He turned his attention back to the faunas, who was still trying to hide her red cheeks.

"Well, it wasn't _that _bad. It was my idea in the first place…" She felt her face heat up.

"Awh, you spoil me." Roland leaned down slightly and gave Elisabeth a quick kiss on the cheek, completely flustering the girl. No one would ever guess just by looking at him but Roland was incredibly affectionate, and he had no qualms about hiding it. Whether it was because he had the affection levels of an excited puppy or because it had just built up over the years Elisabeth did not know, but she honestly didn't mind in the slightest. Roland was finally acting like he was a human and not a monster, and deep down below the levels of fear, self-doubt and trust issues, Roland was an incredible human being.

"So, do we have food? All they had in that place was meat, so I am _starving." _Roland didn't even wait for a reply, immediately heading for the fridge and rummaging through its contents.

"Wait, Roland, you don't eat meat?" Yang made it seem like someone had just turned her entire life upside down.

"Eh. I'll eat the occasional piece of fish if I have to, but other than that I hate the stuff. Thick, chewy and it tastes terrible. Never seen a more repulsing food group in my life." Roland's head emerged from the fridge with a package of grapes in his mouth and a bottle of apple juice tucked in between his head and shoulder.

"How do you survive? Do you get all your nutrition from grapes and juice?" Juan asked, just as surprised as Yang. Roland didn't seem like a vegetarian, not even in the slightest.

"Hmphm mhm mps." The plastic package in his mouth made his words indistinguishable.

"What?" Weiss asked, still trying to get the last few pieces of confetti out of her jacket. Roland let out something close to sigh and dropped his food choices on the counter.

"People like grapes." He said, screwing the cap off the bottle of juice and taking a swig.

"Apparently people also like to be unsanitary." Weiss said, scowling at the sight of Roland drinking straight from the bottle. "Does he always do that?" She asked, looking at Elisabeth.

"Yeah, pretty much. But he buys me separate drinks, so its all good." Elisabeth had originally had the same reaction as Weiss, but after realizing that she was never going to change Roland's habits she had accepted it. The boy was stubborn and always refused to change, no matter how hard someone else tried to make him do so. Roland's personality was set in stone, and it would take more persuasion than existed on the planet to make anything different.

"Calm down princess, I'm not gonna make anyone sick. I just think glasses and cups are a waste of time. I mean, the stuff is already in a container, but you want me to pour it into another container _then _drink it? A waste of time if you ask me." Roland tossed a grape into the air and caught it in his mouth, then took another gulp of juice.

"Is it just me or are you a bit cocky today?" Blake spoke for the first time, looking up from her book to meet the eyes of Roland. It was just as hard for her to adjust to the milk-white eye as it was for everyone else, but she noticed that Roland's good eye wasn't green like it should have been. It was a deep, comforting shade of blue. "And what happened to your eye?"

"Well my dearest Blake, I am feeling a bit self-confident. I'm in a very good mood, and considering how rare that is I intend to enjoy it. Oh, and my eye got messed up cause of dust or something. A new kind of medical treatment which apparently causes my eye to change color based on my emotions."

"It's like you have mood-eyes!" Nora couldn't contain her interest any longer and decided to let it out. She noticed that everyone was giving her looks that said "did you even think about that sentence?" It took her a few seconds but she eventually realized her mistake. "Oh, uh, sorry. Mood _eye." _The only one that didn't look at her like she was an idiot was Roland himself, surprisingly enough.

"It's fine Nora, doesn't bother me in the least. And technically I do still have two eyes, one of them has just decided not to work. But I got a badass scare to go with it, so I'm not complaining." Roland laughed, understanding the mistake. It was going to take a while to adjust, and Roland figured the easiest way to do so was to look on the bright side. Even if he was going to walk into a wall every time he tried to turn a corner he was going to have fun with it.

"That scare is nothing to joke about you dunce. You could have lost your eye all together!" Weiss hated this version of Roland, wishing he would go back to the silent version of himself. She already had to deal with Ruby and Yang on a daily basis. By no means did she need a third troublemaker in her life.

"I thought I was supposed to be the dunce?" Ruby jumped up from the spot on the floor that she had been sitting on, placing her hands on her hips in a matter-of-fact fashion.

"You _are _the dunce, you dunce. And don't you give me that attitude." Weiss looked her girlfriend dead in the eye, having to tilt her head up slightly due to her lack of height.

"Fight! Fight! Fight!"

"Yang, don't egg them on." Blake tried to control her own girlfriend now, hoping that this wouldn't end with a frozen dorm room like it normally did.

"You two better not make a mess of this room. There's already confetti everywhere thanks to Nora, I don't need snow and rose petals added to it." Roland said, considering breaking it up but deciding to see how it played out.

"I didn't mean to shoot the confetti!"

"Nora you pointed at his face and blasted him to kingdom come."

An eruption of bickering and insults filled the room, everyone finding someone else to go after. Yang and Blake argued about fighting, ironically enough, and Ruby and Weiss went about their normal process of calling each other name. Nora kept going on about not meaning to fire her confetti cannon and Ren argued that she had not only shot it but taken the time to aim at Roland while Pyrrha and Juan walked over next to Roland and Elisabeth, watching the scene of chaos before them.

"Didn't you miss us?" Pyrrha said jokingly, watching as Yang tackled her faunas girlfriend and landed on Elisabeth's bed.

"You couldn't even imagine." He may have been surrounded by a bunch of people who all had the energy levels of a six-year-old on a sugar rush, but Roland wouldn't trade it for the world. He had his friends, he had Elisabeth, but most importantly, he finally had a home. The boy who once lived in the woods under makeshift roofs of leaves and sticks now stood in a room full of people who wanted him to be there, and that was all he had ever truly wanted.

Roland had to fight to keep back the tears.


	18. Chapter 18: Enemies

"Okay, you ready?"

"This seems dangerous… Sparing is great and all, but I don't know if we should be doing this."

"Come on Elisabeth, its fine. The weapons are all holographic, so I can't hurt you, and I trust that you can control your glyphs. It'll be alright, don't worry."

"If you say so... But Roland, try to go easy on me, I'm still learning with the glyphs."

"I promise I'll take it easy. So, you ready now?"

"I guess…" Elisabeth stood on the small orange square on the floor. Roland stood on the opposite side of the room, standing in his ready stance as the orange swords he held illuminated his face. The room around them was dark, the walls covered in black panels to make sure there were no distractions.

Beacon had a host of training rooms, and this was by far Roland's favorite. It was called the Holographic Room, for obvious reasons. A person could go in, enter a bit of information on a panel by the door and then start. With the information the room could replicate your weapon and any environment you wished to train in. The enemies were holographic as well, making it easy to improve one's technique without getting injured. Roland was the only one who used the room to spare with other students, but he found that training against other people made it much easier to find your flaws than training with a computer did.

"Computer, simulate area: Forever Fall." As Roland spoke the walls around them instantly shifted, the previously black slabs turning into a very convincing clearing surrounded by red trees. A few places on the ground and in the sky shifted, seeming to be made from static, then fixed themselves. In seconds they were in Forever Fall, and if they weren't aware that they were in the Holo Room there would have been no way to figure out they were still at Beacon.

"Activate safety procedures and aura bars." A few places in the world around them changed to static again, then two small bars appeared in Roland's vision. They were small and in the very corner, easily out-of-the-way but noticeable if they were needed. The same happened for Elisabeth, one bar being green and the other being purple.

"What are those things?" She asked, turning her head and trying to get the small bars into the center of her vision.

"The green one is your life bar, the other is your aura bar. It's the color of your aura, so each one is different for each person. Mine is black, yours should be purple, and so on." Roland was amused at the sight of Elisabeth trying to get the bars into a more comfortable position. He had to admit, they were a little strange at first and got on your nerves, but once the fight started you forget all about them.

"Okay, I'm about to start the fight, you ready?"

"Um, yeah, go ahead." Elisabeth let the issue with the bars slip to the back of her mind and focused on the upcoming battle.

"Computer, start combat countdown. Time limit: None. Health depletion till lost: Ten percent." A large circle appeared between Roland and Elisabeth, then numbers appeared inside of it. A voice started counting down from ten as the numbers dropped.

"So, we just fight?" Elisabeth asked, having to yell to make sure she was heard over the disembodied voice.

"Yeah, pretty much. Each hit will take down the others health, and when one of us reaches ten percent health the other will win. Nice and simple."

"Three. Two. One. Begin." The end of the countdown was followed by a buzzer, and then it was on. Roland stayed still, hoping Elisabeth would attack first so he could get the upper hand. His hopes were fulfilled when he saw Elisabeth place a hand at her side. The girl fought with a mix of throwing knives a glyphs, a combo that didn't seem that deadly until you went up against it. She would use her glyphs to keep people at a distance, then take them down with a single knife. She was incredibly accurate, something Roland had seen first hand, and deadly accuracy mixed with a skilled use of glyphs made for a dangerous mix.

In a flash Elisabeth threw a knife dead at her target, watching as the small flash of orange raced towards Roland. The boy moved at the last second, swinging one of his swords up and deflecting the small knife. Moments latter two more were headed for him, forcing him to rely more on dodging than deflecting. He rolled to the side, hearing a knife fly a bit too close to his ear, but didn't let it deter him. He knew that if he kept moving it would make it very difficult for Elisabeth to hit him, and so he charged forward, running in a zigzag pattern and rolling to the side at random moments.

Roland got close to her much faster than she thought he would. Elisabeth threw one last knife at him, knowing it wouldn't find its mark but deciding that it would slow him down. She waited for him to start his attack, watching his foot and arm movement. The boy's movements were always unnecessarily hard to read, his lightweight and skinny body making it ridiculously easy for him to change directions without warning. Elisabeth saw his left arm go back a little further than usual, and so she shifted her weight accordingly.

She brought her hands up and moved them in a circle, then pulled them both to her chest. A deep purple circle appeared in front of her, filled with an assortment of symbols and runes that Elisabeth had memorized over and over. She rammed her hand into one of the symbols and watched the circle before her glow slightly.

Half a second later Roland slammed his left sword into the glyph, impressed at how quickly Elisabeth had conjured it up. The girl's hands had moved in a blur, the sudden circle taking Roland by surprise as he realized that it was going to be impossible to avoid hitting the spell with his sword. The piece of metal hit the barrier and stopped dead, sending waves of pain up Roland's arm as the energy rebounded. Without any pause his sword was thrown off the glyph, tossing Roland off balance as his arm followed the weapon.

Roland slammed his left foot into the ground, the force of his sword being thrown back causing him to lift his leg off the ground in the first place. He regained his balance in the blink of an eye, then continued his attack. Elisabeth shouldn't have enough time to conjure another glyph with that much power in it, which would make things a lot easier for Roland. He started going about his regular movements, letting his swings flow together naturally as his body spun in circles, effortlessly flowing from attack to attack, relentlessly slamming his blades into his opponent.

Roland was annoyingly fast. Elisabeth was having to push herself to keep up with his movements, conjuring small glyphs in the proper area as she kept her eyes locked on to the blur of black before her. She would have to do something to stop this never-ending attack, and she would have to do it soon. All Elisabeth needed was a small gap in his attack pattern, a short pause in his swings so she could build up her energy.

Roland couldn't keep this up. He had lost his sense of direction due to the concentration it took to keep his movements precise, and he would need to retreat and take stock of the situation in order to continue. Figuring he could afford to fall back a bit, he swung one last time, then bent his knees and prepared to jump back. Too fast and he might end up slipping, but too slow and Elisabeth would have time to attack.

Roland finally gave the girl the opening she was looking for. Just the slightest pause in his swings was more than enough for Elisabeth. Just like before she traced a circle in the air, but this time she selected a different rune. The circle before her turned from purple to red, then exploded outward. Roland was thrown back, landing a good distance away with a heavy thud. His swords were knocked away, the orange copies of his regular weapons clattering against the ground before dissolving into the air.

Elisabeth figured she had won, but just to be sure she threw two knives before Roland could get up again, the artificial weapons embedding themselves into the boy's chest before he had the chance to move.

"Aw man, you got me." Roland said, sitting up and staring at the orange hilts sticking out of his chest.

"Oh, um, are you alright? I got a little carried away…" Elisabeth was happy that she had won but she wanted to make sure Roland was alright. The sight of him casually laying on the ground with two knives sticking out of him was a little off-putting.

"I'm fine Elisabeth, you did great. You've gotten really good with your glyphs too. Get any better and you might start giving Weiss a run for her money." Roland laughed, standing up and pulling the knives out of him. They dissolved in his hands as the forest around them slowly faded away until the black walls returned.

"I need to start taking you out on missions more often. Being alone is fun and all, but I tend to get the crap beaten out of me." Roland walked over to Elisabeth, amazed at her progress. She used to do little more than conjure up a small shield, but with the extra tutoring from Glenda and the occasional pro-tip from Weiss Elisabeth was a very capable fighter.

"Oh come on, I'm not that good. And I'm well aware of how often you lose your fights. Seems like every time you leave the dorm room something gives you another scar." It was true that Roland lacked the ability to return from a mission without being covered in his own blood, but at this point it didn't surprise anyone. Besides, Ozpin had been helping the boy learn to control his aura, and at this point Roland could heal severe injuries in minutes as well as heal others using his special power that he had used on Ruby during his initiation.

"Maybe I could be a little more cautious. But then again, that wouldn't be much fun, now would it?" Roland gave Elisabeth a small headbutt, the basic equivalent of a kiss coming from Roland. Any sort of affection, even when it was as simple as a hug, usually left Roland completely flustered, and so he developed his own way of showing his love towards Elisabeth that didn't leave him with red cheeks.

"You being dead won't be much fun either you know."

It had been a full month since Roland had been sent to Uncharted Lands. With a mix of dust treatment and his own aura the boy's body had managed to fully heal in a little over two weeks, and now he was working on regaining lost muscle. Living with one eye had proved fairly challenging at first, his depth perception being thrown off completely due to his injury. Even simple tasks like opening doors and picking things up was nearly impossible for Roland, his hand always being too far back to reach whatever he was going for or his hand shooting too far forward and slamming into whatever solid surface was nearby. The boy had now adapted to it and was no longer troubled by his loss, but the first week had been filled with busted lips, bloody knuckles, raging outbursts, and a colorful variety of curses that Roland yelled at some of the particularly annoying objects.

"Attention students, will team Black Cat please equip themselves and report to launch area B. I repeat, will team Black Cat please equip themselves and report to the launch area B. That is all." Glenda's voice over the intercom surprised the two. Neither of them were scheduled to be sent out any time soon, and on top of that, they had never been sent out together.

"I really wish they would think of a different team name for us." Roland sighed, trying to figure out why they would be sent out without any warning.

"Oh it's not that bad. You're the pure embodiment of black and I'm a cat-faunas. It makes perfect sense."

"True, but the name just seems a little bland. I mean, think of all the other names everyone else got. Freezer Burn, White Rose, Arkos, then we get stuck with Black Cat. Like, sixty percent of the cat population has black on them somewhere, it doesn't make sense!"

"Oh for the love of dust will you stop your complaining? We need to go anyways. You can continue your cat-themed rant later."

* * *

"You're sending me and Elisabeth out without any notice for a simple robbery?"

"Yes Roland, now get going. You need to catch Torchwick before he gets away." Glenda looked unimpressed.

"Isn't this a job for the police? Don't they have guns and all that for a reason?"

"Oh my god Roland just get in so we catch this guy and get back." Elisabeth had to shove her partner into the vehicle due to his continuous stream of questions and criticism.

"Just don't let Torchwick get away. Oh, and Elisabeth, keep your boyfriend from getting shot. He seems to be a magnet for injuries." Ozpin's joking smile was met with a nod from Elisabeth.

"Hey! I am-" Roland's protest was cut off by the door of the airship slamming closed. Without any hesitation the aircraft lifted off the ground and blasted away, the pilots determined to get the pair to their destination.

"I'm starting to think letting that boy have a partner was a mistake. When he arrived at this school he was quiet, calm and collected. Now hes… Like that." Glenda said, standing next to Ozpin as they both watched the airship fly away.

"Perhaps. But at least he acts like a person instead of an empty husk. Dust treatments and auras can piece him back together any time, but only that girl is able to heal the psychological and emotional damage." Ozpin took a sip of coffee to hide his smile. Glenda's words had made the man think about how much Roland had changed in a little over three months, which was a very entertaining thought.

"And if something happens to Elisabeth? Then what will we do?"

"If that happens, I expect we'll all die. The Emerald Forest is still being regrown after he saved Ruby, and he only knew her for a week then. If Elisabeth were to die, or even get hurt, we'd probably relive the Darkest Sunrise. If Roland can take out a massive area of a forest just for the sake of defending someone he just met he'd probably reduce all of Vale to ash at the sight of a dead loved one."

"Don't you think we should do something then?"

Ozpin took another sip of coffee. "Nah."

* * *

"Okay seriously, what is going on with you?"

"What do you mean? I'm fine Elisabeth."

"Like Hell you are! Five minutes ago you were all sarcastic and witty, now you're back to your old self."

"I find my old self is much better when it comes to combat. Now hush, I need to keep meditating."

"Roland, you're sitting criss-cross on the floor of an airship. I don't think you'll be able to do much even if I stopped talking."

Their argument would have continued had the aircraft not come to a sudden halt. The door slowly opened, giving Roland and Elisabeth a beautiful view of the city. It was night, the mixture of lights from cars and buildings lighting up the sleeping city. Roland and Elisabeth peeked out of the open door, seeing below them a tiny dust shop, glass covering the street in front of it. A van was parked on the street as well, men loading boxes into the vehicle as Roland and Elisabeth watched.

"Heard Torchwick was working with the White Fang last year. You think that alliance is still going?" Roland asked, ready to get serious.

"Probably, judging by the uniforms." Elisabeth pointed out the white coats with the iconic White Fang emblem painted on the back.

"So, are we planning to jump?"

"I'd assume so. The pilots certainly aren't taking us down."

"That's a long drop onto concrete. Think you can do it?"

Elisabeth gave her partner a mischievous smirk. "If I may quote Weiss; _can I?" _

Roland gave the girl a smile of his own. "_Can you?" _

"Just try not to snap your ankles." Without waiting for another word Elisabeth jumped out, landing on glyphs to keep herself from harm. She silently landed on the roof of the building moments later, amazed that none of the criminals had seen her. Either the masks obstructed their view or all the members of the White Fang were blind. Ignoring her oblivious foes Elisabeth looked up, wondering how Roland was planning to get down.

All the girl saw was a flash of black followed by a massive crash and a cloud of black that erupted from the middle of the street. Moments later the cloud cleared to reveal none other than Roland, down on one knee in a small crater, his body covered in a film of darkness. The street around him was shattered and bent in spike-like shapes, cracks covering the previously solid road. For a moment Elisabeth thought Roland's semblance had activated and felt a small ball of fear start to build in her stomach, but she was relieved when the darkness slowly faded away and the boy stood, one eye milk-white, the other dark orange.

"Whats going on out here? And why have you idiots stopped loading the dust?" Roman marched out of the shop, obviously displeased and ready to dish out some punishment. Out of all the criminal organizations he'd been with, the White Fang had seemed to be the worst of them all. He stopped dead in his tracks when he saw Roland, the black clad figure standing in a crater making for an intimidating image.

"Really? Can't a guy rob a simple dust shop without having some annoying kid show up to get in the way? But at least you're not Red and her little band of killjoys. It'll be fun to mix up the challenge a bit." Roman raised his cane and aimed it dead at the boy, ready to get the action started. The faunas around him raised their own weapons, everyone waiting for someone else to start the fight.

Elisabeth watched patiently, knowing Roland would have some sort of plan. The boy got hurt a lot but that didn't mean he was careless. He always knew what he was going to do before he did it, and so Elisabeth knew this time would be no different.

Roland could see Elisabeth in the very edges of his vision. No one knew she was there, giving the pair a massive advantage. _Alright, lets figure this out. _Roland scanned the world around him, memorizing every single detail.

_Roman and twelve others stand in front. Judging by the van and the way they're all stood none of them thought to get behind me. I doubt Roman was the only one in the shop, so they've probably got hostages. Roman will definitely shoot first, but his friends will be quick to follow. _Roland's mind came up with a plan in seconds.

Elisabeth saw it. Roland's eyes darted up for a split second, and that was all she needed. Most said the pair were so good at silent communication they could talk telepathically, but in reality it was just a deep level of understanding. Elisabeth didn't know exactly what Roland was going to do but she knew what he was asking for, and so she slowly traced her hands in the familiar patterns. The purple circle appeared and she selected two different runes, then clutched her hand to her chest, waiting for whatever signal Roland intended to give as she built up power.

"Well, this is getting pretty boring. Lets spice things up a bit." Roman's words were followed by an ear-splitting _Bang. _The dust round exploded almost immediately, the boy's form overtaken by a cloud of smoke. "Well that was a shame. I really thought he would be more entertaining."

"Oh, don't tell me you thought it would be so easy?" The unfamiliar voice coming from the cloud of smoke caused Roman to stiffen up.

"You must realize, the entertainment hasn't even started yet." The smoke cleared to reveal the boy, still standing at full height, seemingly unaffected by the shot.

"How in the…" Roman was cut off when the two faunas next to him dropped to the ground, knives sticking out of their necks. The man spun his head around just in time to see the cat faunas leaping towards him, leg outstretched in what was obviously meant to be a kick. Roman ducked under the girl with ease, spinning around and firing off two more shots. Those around him started shooting well, unloading their clips into the two before them.

Elisabeth's hands moved in a blur, just like in the Holo Room, bringing up another glyph to block Roman's two shots. Their araus could easily shrug off the regular bullets but Roman's cane would rip them to shreds.

Roland, already tired of being shot at, unsheathed both his swords and ran forward. He reached his enemy before they could even attempt to dodge, three White Fang hitting the ground before any of the others could even figure out what happened. Roland didn't give them anymore time either, continuing to slice and stab his way through his foes before they had any chance to fight back. Roland didn't like killing people, he felt that it was wrong and that they should be working together, not fighting. But at the moment he didn't have much of a choice, and it had been too long since Roland had been in a good fight.

Seeing that her partner had the ten outside under control, Elisabeth dashed into the shop. Behind the counter a White Fang was using a man as a human shield, pressing a gun to the shopkeepers head. "Come any closer and he dies."

"Please, you make this too easy." Elisabeth scoffed. Every time someone tried to go with the human shield tactic they always left their head exposed, and this situation was no different. The girl grabbed a knife and flung it towards her target, watching with an unimpressed expression as the knife buried itself right in between the crooks eyes. The shopkeeper dropped to his knees, holding his head in his hands as he murmured some-what of a thanks. Elisabeth wanted to help him, but the sounds of metal hitting metal outside told her the fight wasn't over.

Outside Roland finished the last of the White Fang and turned his attention to Roman. The only problem was, Roman was nowhere to be seen. "Oh you have got to be kidding me. Where did that little weasel go?" Roland growled, scanning the area around him. He had foolishly left his visor at Beacon, thinking the lights of the shops would disrupts its heat seekers and render the machine useless.

"Roland, dodge left!" The boy didn't know why but he followed the command, jumping to the left and rolling in his shoulder. A split second later a van raced by, tearing through the street at high speeds and rounding a corner, disappearing into the night.

"Let me guess, Torchwick was in that van?" Roland sighed, staring down the now empty street.

"Well, he isn't here, and I don't think teleportation exists yet. So I'm going to have to go with yes." Elisabeth walked over and joined her partner, relieved that he hadn't been hit by the van.

"Well, Ozpin is gonna be pissed, and I'm willing to bet Glenda will have some kind words in store for us as well."

"We saved the shop at least."

"Speaking of the shop, anyone inside?"

"Just a worker. He's fine though, from what I could tell."

"Alright. Call a ride, I want to get back soon. Its late, I'm covered in blood, and I'd like to put this behind us."

"Why would you want to put this behind us? Seems to me like something to remember. We took down eleven guys and fought of a twelfth."

"You're too optimistic. The way I see it, we killed eleven people and made a new enemy. Torchwick now knows us, what we look like, and what we're capable of."

"So what? If he comes back we'll just beat him again."

"I still don't like it. But perhaps you're right. For now, lets just get back to Beacon."

Elisabeth gave Roland a small nod and pulled out her scroll. She sent a message to Ozpin directly, figuring it was the fastest way to get a ride, then slipped the device back into her pocket. "Hey, Roland." The boy's gaze met her's when she spoke. "I'm glad you didn't get hurt…" Elisabeth could feel her face heat up and looked away in an attempt to hide her oncoming blush. Roland wasn't the only one who got easily flustered.

Roland cupped her face and gently pulled her back around, then pressed his lips to hers. "I'm glad you're okay too. And by the way, have I told you that you are absolutely _adorable _when you try to hide your blush like that?"

"Oh that's it, now you're gonna get it." Elisabeth began swinging at the boy, her red cheeks being replaced by a wide grin. Sometimes the way Roland's attitude and emotions shifted was a bit of a hassle, but every once in a while it came in handy.

And sometimes, like tonight, it earned the boy a few extra bruises.

** So this one felt a little rushed, and I'm sorry for that, but it was kind of meant to be filler for some upcoming stuff. I promise the next few chapters will be better than this one. Also, i have no clue whats going on with the length of these chapters. The last few have been over 4,000 words and I'm only shooting for 3,000 per chapter. But I hope you guys are enjoying the story, and thank you so much for reading. Don't forget to leave a review if you have one, they're greatly appreciated, and I'll talk to you all whenever I decide to put another author's note in.**


	19. Chapter 19: The Calm

** Hey guys, sorry this one is a day late, but I was really busy yesterday and didn't get home till around 10:00. **

"You were stopped by two children?"

"These weren't your ordinary kids. Something was off about one of them."

"What are you saying Roman?"

"I'm saying I think we've found our jewel."

"Oh, do you now. What brings you to this conclusion?"

"He had a black aura."

"Did he now? Well Roman, I must say you have made me a very happy woman. After ten years we finally found him. Our black diamond. Now we just need to lure him in. Any ideas?"

"He had a girl with him. I couldn't be sure, but they seemed close."

Cinder grinned as a small flame spread hovered over her palm. "This is going to be too easy."

* * *

"You let Torchwick get away?"

"We did not _let _him get away. He _got _away."

"You still failed to stop him."

"Okay, really now? As I remember, teams JNPR and RWBY failed to stop him many times, even when both of them were sent after him at the same time, so I think the fact that Elisabeth and I went down there, took out eleven guys, saved a shopkeeper and got out without a scratch is worth more than this scolding."

"Roland has a point Glenda. They may have failed the original objective, but they made up for it. Its late anyways, let them go get some sleep. Its is the weekend after all, they could use a break." Ozpin had finally come to the kid's rescue, feeling Glenda had used up enough time.

"Don't worry Ms. Goodwitch, we'll get him next time. But I think we're all just a little tired, and that usually makes Roland a bit irritable. We can talk about this more tomorrow." Elisabeth was trying to pull Roland towards the door, hoping they would get back to the room soon. Roland had different stages of sleep deprivation, and right now he was going through the annoyance stage, one that always ends with Roland yelling at someone or something.

"Alright, you can go. And, I suppose you did a good job. At least you weren't injured." Glenda gave a wave of her hand to make sure they understood they could leave, then turned her attention to her scroll.

"Thank you, Ms. Goodwitch. Come on Roland, time to go back to the room." Elisabeth finished her sentence with a sharp tug on Roland's cloak. She doubted he would do anything stupid, but she didn't intend to give him the chance. The girl was satisfied when Roland turned and started walking away, obviously wanting to get to bed just as much as everyone else. Roland didn't know what time it was but he did know that he was exhausted and needed rest. He had used his aura a good deal during the fight, and like his semblance it drained the boy of his energy.

Ozpin watched the two walk out together, then turned to Glenda once the door closed. "Well that went well."

"Sometimes I wish that boy would go back to the way he was when he first got here. He holds himself too highly."

"Oh, quite the contrary actually. Haven't you seen the way he is during combat?"

"Foolish, stupid and completely devoid of strategy?"

"Not even close. His natural instinct is to protect those around him. Why do you think he used his power to heal Ruby? After all Roland has done and been through, I think he deserves some time to believe in himself. Besides, the old him scared the other students."

* * *

"Roland, for the last time, put the scroll away and _go to sleep."_

"In a minute Elisabeth, I have stuff to do."

"Its two in the morning. Whatever you're doing can wait, you need your rest. What are you even doing on that thing that's so important anyways?"

"Just a bit of research, don't worry about it. You go ahead and fall asleep, I promise I won't stay up long."

"Ugh, fine. But if I wake up in a few hours and you're still on that thing I'm going to throw it out the window, got it?" Elisabeth begrudgingly laid her head down on Roland's chest, ignoring the dull blue glow that came from the scroll the boy held as her eyes drifted closed. She felt his arm wrap around her shoulder and curled up closer, wrapping her tail around one of his legs as she felt herself start to drift off.

Elisabeth had been the one to suggest sleeping in the same bed. At first Roland had found it strange and slightly uncomfortable, trying to sleep while another person laid right beside you. The boy had bad trust issues, and even though it was Elisabeth he still felt a little uneasy falling asleep when she was so close. But after a few days he had come to enjoy it, the feeling if Elisabeth next to him making the boy feel safer and happier than when he slept alone. But he was still trying to get used to Elisabeth wrapping her tail around one of his legs and the occasional purr that the girl would let out.

He waited until he was sure Elisabeth was asleep, knowing that she would try to act. He could always tell if she was sleeping by her ears, which would softly press against the top of her head, and her tail, which would rightly wrap around anything it could touch. Roland watched her ears slowly droop down until they laid completely flat against the top of the girl's head and he couldn't help but smile; she was adorable.

"Sweet dreams Elisabeth." He gently kissed the top of her head, then turned his attention back to his scroll. A picture of Roman Torchwick sat off to the side of the screen, surrounded by text and other small pictures.

"So I finally found you again. You've been running a long time Roman, but it looks like the cat always catches the mouse in the end." Roland swiped his thumb across the screen, watching as all of Roman's information was replaced by a different person's. A woman with eyes like fire and a red dress, her lips curved in a smirk that screamed evil.

"And I'm willing to bet you're behind it, aren't you Cinder? Well, you never knew how to stay hidden did you? I figured you'd have been smarter than this. But now you know I'm here, so you're probably planning a trap for me right now. You've shown your wits in the past, but this is where it's really going to take some thought. How long until you come for me Cinder? Or will you send Torchwick after me instead?" Roland swiped through a multitude of pictures and police reports, finding all the information he could.

"You scare me and I scare you Cinder, but one of us is going to have to man up."

* * *

Roland's eyes slowly opened, his mind forcing his body to start-up. The boy could tell from the way he felt that it was early, far earlier than the time he normally woke up. The room was still dark but the window was uncovered, so the sun hadn't come up yet. He could feel Elisabeth's head resting on his chest, the only sound in the room being their soft breathing. Roland tried to close his eyes again and go back to sleep, but his body refused to rest.

After a few minutes of laying still he accepted that he was not going to fall asleep again. Carefully Roland sat up, taking Elisabeth's head in his hand and laying it down on a pillow. She immediately rolled over and curled into a ball but didn't wake, and so Roland proceeded to climb out of bed. Getting her tail off his leg took a bit of extra work but eventually he managed, and once he was sure Elisabeth was still asleep he stood up and walked over to the window.

All the other windows he could see were dark, any sensible person being asleep at this ungodly hour. Roland let his mind wander as he stared out at the dark courtyard below him, trying to figure out why he was awake. It wasn't because of noise, and he felt exhausted, so why couldn't he sleep? Perhaps he was just being strange again. This wouldn't be the first time he woke up in the middle of the night for no reason whatsoever.

But then something changed. Roland's body felt heavier; much heavier in fact. The boy just thought that the exhaustion had caught up and so he turned around, having to lean against the wall to keep himself up. But when he turned around Roland realized that what he was feeling wasn't natural.

On the other side of the room stood a person, dressed in the signature White Fang uniform. The only difference was their mask and the color of their robes, the mask being flatter and the robes being black. They blended in almost perfectly with the dark room, and in their left hand was a long, black cylinder.

"Let me guess… Torchwick and Cinder…" Roland reached back and dragged his hand along his neck, eventually finding what he was looking for. He pulled out the small dart, holding it in his hand before tossing it aside.

"You're a smart boy. But you've made them very upset in the past, especially Cinder. So now, they've decided to go with more extreme efforts." The voice was feminine, no surprise to Roland. The White Fang had a good mix of racial and sexual faunas, which meant your enemies came in all shapes and sizes.

"So what are you gonna do? Kidnap me and torture me until I do what you tell me to?" Roland could feel his strength dropping but he refused to give up yet. He needed to get as much information as he could.

"Oh, that's close. They are going to tie someone up and torture them, but that person isn't going to be you." The girl started walking slowly towards the bed where Elisabeth slept, taking great care to make no noise.

"No, no you leave her out of this! She doesn't know anything!" Roland tried to grab the woman but he fell to the ground, his voice faltering as a sharp pain shot through his jaw, slowly becoming barely audible as he watched the woman stand next to the bed.

"I know about her lack of information, but she does mean something to you, does she not? So if they were to, oh I don't know, cause her a good deal of pain, I imagine you would want to find her. Am I correct?"

"Don't you dare touch her. So help me if a hair on her head gets put out-of-place I will slaughter all of you."

"I don't doubt that. But I'll be long gone by the time you wake up, and that means I wont be dead, so all I care about is getting paid. But she is a faunas, and she is innocent, so I can promise you I won't harm her in the slightest." As she spoke the woman lifted up the cylinder and pressed it to her lips. She blew out sharply and watched as a dart, similar to the one that had hit Roland, stuck itself into Elisabeth's neck.

"As for my employers however, I can not guarantee her well-being." She picked up Elisabeth and slung the sleeping girl over the shoulder. Whatever Elisabeth had been it with was obviously much stronger than what Roland had been hit with.

"Don't do this! Take me! I'm the one you want, not her!"

"Actually, they want her as well. You see, princess gets taken by a dragon, brave knight comes to rescue her."

"Please! They'll kill her! Don't take her away from me!" Roland couldn't move now. His body was at its limits, ready for him to lose consciousness at any second. For a moment it looked like the woman was thinking, looking down at the floor as she held Elisabeth over her shoulder.

"If it makes you feel any better, they don't plan to kill her. But they will kill me if I fail. Sorry, but I've got a job to do." Without anymore hesitation the girl walked over to the window, opened it, and jumped out. Roland tried to stand up but his arms and legs refused to move, his eyesight starting to dim as the world around him suddenly got a lot darker.

"Elisabeth… No…"

Everything went black.

* * *

Roland's eyes shot open. His memory was fuzzy and his body felt stiff. He couldn't remember why but he was on the floor, and for some reason his window was open. He pushed himself up and shook his head, sitting on his knees and looking around the room. Elisabeth wasn't there, but it was the weekend, so she normally wouldn't have anywhere to go. His eyes were blurry and he felt groggy, like someone who was teetering on the edge of being drunk, worse than the usual morning aftershock.

"What the Hell happened last night?" He said, standing up and rubbing his forehead in an attempt to clear his head. Roland's legs were stiff and felt heavy but he could still walk, and so he turned around and looked out the window. The courtyard was covered in fallen leaves, the pieces of brown and gold showering over the normally green field.

That was when it all came back to him. His stomach twisted in every direction and it felt like someone ripped his heart straight out of his chest. Tears stung his eyes as the boy fell to his knees, grabbing fistfuls of hair in an attempt to escape the terrible feelings. He wanted to deny it, tell himself it wasn't real, it hadn't happened, it was only a dream, but no matter what Roland knew it was real. Elisabeth had been taken, and now Roland had no idea where she was at. But he did know one thing; who took her.

"So help me god Cinder, you better hope and pray I don't find you, because if I do, I'm going to rip your heart out with my own hands and force you to look at it as you die."

* * *

"So you wanna explain to me how a White Fang assassin managed to sneak onto campus, get into my room, kidnap Elisabeth, then get out without being seen? Cause you'd think the best hunter training academy in the world would have some security measures!"

"That wasn't any normal assassin Roland. There's a reason the White Fang took out so many members of the Schnee dust company. They don't have many assassins, but the ones they do have are specially trained since birth, and that makes them very dangerous."

"Ozpin this is not the time to give me a history lesson on the White Fang! We have two options, you get in touch with the police and get Elisabeth back to me in the next forty-eight hours, or I go find her myself."

"And what will you do if you don't find her?"

"Then I will take it upon myself to RIP THIS GOD DAMN CITY APART UNTIL I DO FIND HER!"

"That sounds a little extreme for just the White Fang. But I understand your displeasure. I will contact the police and make sure Elisabeth is found as fast as possible, alright?"

"_Fast as possible _better be in the next two days. I will not hesitate to go out there, and you know you won't be able to stop me."

"I'm sure I could find some ways to contain you." Ozpin's attempt at a joke was met by tiny black flames encircling Roland's body.

"_**Do not **_mess with me right now Ozpin. You and the rest of Vale are lucky I'm managing to hold on to my semblance, but it won't take much for that monster to control me. Now do you really want that thing rampaging around in my body? Or would you like to continue breathing?"

"You really care about her don't you?" It had taken a few minutes but Ozpin eventually realized that he wasn't dealing with the Roland that had been living at Beacon for the last few months. This was the Roland he had met when he found the boy. An distrusting, uncontrollable ball of pure determination that didn't have time for jokes. Roland had gotten good at keeping his semblance in check, but Ozpin could tell from the look in the boy's eye that the monster inside him was begging to be let out. Roland and his semblance were two different beings entirely, and sometimes the boy didn't have the strength to deny the beast its wishes.

"I don't care about her, I _love _her. Now shut up and get the police on this now. The people who did this are going to pay, I'll make sure of that." Roland turned and started to walk towards the door that would let him out of Ozpin's office.

"It wasn't just the White Fang that did this, was it?" Ozpin's words stopped him dead in his tracks. For a minute Roland didn't sat anything, the boy carefully thinking about what he should say.

"I had a life before this school, and sometimes an old life will refuse to die."

"I feel the need to tell you to be careful. Love can make you reckless."

Roland lifted up his left hand and looked at his palm, then turned around and held his hand close to his chest but kept his palm facing up. A small, black flame appeared, then slowly grew until it was a good size. Ozpin watched, slightly worried as he had never seen the boy do this before. "And hate can be a bridge between worlds." The boy clenched his fingers into a fist, the flame being put out immediately as a small bit of smoke rose from his hand.

"And where there is a bridge there will eventually be an alliance."


	20. Chapter 20: The Storm

** Hey guys, just a quick note that I keep forgetting to put in; ****Roland and Elisabeth are both 18, along with teams JNPR and RWBY (except for Ruby, who is 16). Also, since I put out the last chapter a day late, have this one a day early! And I have no idea whats going on with the length of the chapters but oh my god this one is almost 6,000 words. Like, the first three chapter of this are barely over 1,000 and I've multiplied that by 6, what. But I hope you guys enjoy and thank you for reading. **

Elisabeth slowly opened her eyes, wondering why it felt like she was sitting instead of laying down. Her stomach felt strange and her limbs were heavy, but other than that she felt fine. After her eyes focused she looked around, quickly realizing that she was not at all where she should have been.

She sat in what looked like a warehouse, the room being filled with shipping containers and boxes. The ceiling was high and from the few windows she could see she could tell it was night. Elisabeth could hear voices talking all around her but the wall of boxes kept their owners hidden, only adding to the growing ball of fear that welled up inside the girl.

When she tried to move she found that her feet and arms were chained to the chair, which turned out to be made of metal. Her attempts to get out of her restraints did little more than fill the room with rattling, but she tried anyway, thinking that maybe her captors might have made some mistake.

"You're just wasting your energy. We took great care in making sure you could not escape."

Elisabeth looked in front of her, seeing a woman with black hair wearing a red dress. "Cinder Fall."

"Oh come now, lets not use full names. Makes things too casual."

"What do you want with me?"

"Straight to the point? I like that. But if you must know, you're being used as bait."

"Bait for who?"

"Don't play dumb, you know just who we're after." Cinder was surprised by the genuine look of confusion on the girl's face. "Or maybe he hasn't told you."

"What are you talking about?"

"How amusing. Roland really was trying to protect you." Her words were followed by a smirk.

"What? What does Roland have to do with this?"

"Now that's a long, long story, one that I'd really like to watch that boy try to explain to you himself. But alas, we're a bit crunched for time. Takes a lot to be evil, it's no walk in the park you know. So you don't go anywhere, and soon enough your boyfriend will be joining us. Oh, and try not to make too much noise. The men in this warehouse are of… questionable standards." Cinder turned and started walking away, satisfied with her words.

"You know he's going to kill all of you."

"My dear I count on it."

* * *

**One week later**

"Roland, you know it's a trap." Ruby watched as her friend continued to equip himself, tightening the straps that kept his swords on his back.

"Of course its a trap, but I'm not going to sit by a wait while they have Elisabeth."

"Roland, the White Fang are too strong to take on alone." Blake's words did just as much as Ruby's did.

"I'm well aware, but I'm sure I can take them. Besides, you should have figured out the fact that this isn't just the White Fang."

"So that'll make things worse you fool. Don't run off and get yourself killed."

"Thank you for your support Weiss, but I know what I'm doing."

"I say we let him go. I think he can take 'em."

"Yang, don't encourage him!" Ruby was tempted to punch her sister in the shoulder.

"Alright, look here." Roland stood up from his earlier kneeling position and faced the four girls in front of him.

"They have Elisabeth, and its been a week. Who knows what they might have done to her now. So, since the police are so utterly useless, I am going out there and I will bring her back. None of you can stop me, so I suggest you save your breath." Roland started to walk towards the door, intent on finding Elisabeth as fast as possible. He couldn't even get out of the room before Ruby appeared in a blur of red and blocked the door with her body.

"I won't let you do this alone." She had a determined look on her face that told Roland she was serious. Unfortunately, Roland was not going to be stopped.

"Get out of the way Ruby."

"No, I refuse to let you get yourself killed."

"If you won't move voluntarily-" Roland's hand reached behind his shoulder and grabbed one of his swords, then pulled it out of its case slightly, showing its blade but not drawing the weapon completely. "-I'll be forced to move you myself."

Ruby's look of determination melted away into one of sadness. "You wouldn't really, would you?"

For a moment Roland didn't move, but after a few seconds he let out a sigh and pushed the sword back into its scabbard. "I won't abandon her Ruby. Now please, let me find her." His eye slowly faded to a dark brown, the look of sadness on his face mixed with determination making Ruby feel like her heart was shattering.

"But what if you get hurt?"

"I've got a plan Ruby. I'm not stepping into their trap blindly. Just trust me."

It was Ruby's turn to let out a sigh. She always worried about Roland, especially considering he had been sent to the hospital wing twice in his first year. But deep down she knew that no one, not even her or her teammates, would be able to stop Roland once he was determined to do something. Slowly Ruby stepped out of the way, her head dropping slightly as Roland walked past her.

"Give me a day. I'll have her back and I'll be fine. I promise."

* * *

"So this is it, huh Cinder? I just walked around this blasted city for nine hours tracking you down and it turns out you're hiding out in an abandoned warehouse." Roland stood in front of the massive building, looking at its large number of busted windows and half rotted walls. It was night, a full moon looming over the city that now slept. The warehouse was on the docks and so the moonlight shimmered of the water sending strange shapes of dull light onto the side of the building.

"How many of you are watching me right now? How many people have their sniper sights on my head, just waiting for a command that could end my life? How many sit inside this building waiting for me to walk in? How many lives have you used to build a wall and keep me out Cinder? Are they in the hundreds? The thousands even?" He could feel the pit in his stomach start to grow. They knew he was here, and they probably had a host of different plans to capture him.

"I guess I'm about to find out. You took the thing I love, now its time to return the favor. I figure your life is pretty precious." Slowly he walked towards the massive metal doors, mentally preparing himself for what was to come. He held his swords by his side, one in each hand, the familiar weight and feel of the weapons comforting him slightly. It took a madman to walk into a room when he knew a trap was waiting for him, and so Roland knew he would be insane to do this, but he had no choice. They had Elisabeth, and soon he would have their heads.

"You started this fight and tonight I intend to finish it." He stood inches away from the one of the doors, staring at the thick piece of metal before him. "Lets do this."

Roland took a deep breath and pushed the door open, running in and holding his swords at the ready. For a moment it was silent, the area around him seeming to be frozen in time as nothing happened. Then he heard footsteps. Faint, nearly silent, carefully placed footsteps from behind him.

"So you finally showed up?" The voice wasn't Cinder's or Roman's, but it was familiar. It was the same voice Roland had heard a week ago when Elisabeth was taken.

"I thought you said you would be gone?" Only now did he turn around, letting is swords drop to his side. He didn't need to keep his guard up now. If she wanted to attack him she would have done it already.

"I considered it, but I still had some work. Money is money, and I have I life to live." She was at least fifty feet away, walking towards Roland slowly. She didn't have any weapons in her hands but Roland could see the blowpipe strapped to her side. He was willing to bet she could have it out and pointed at his neck in the blink of an eye.

"Of course, I know how it works, but if I didn't know any better I'd say you missed me."

She laughed, then linked her hands together behind her back but continued walking. "You are a very entertaining person, you know that? I'm glad I didn't have to kill you."

"Awh, be careful now, you'll make me blush. But enough of the small talk, why are you here?"

"Well you see, I'm supposed to poison you again, but I may have had a change of heart." She was less than ten feet away now.

"You honestly expect me to trust the woman who put a dart in my back and stole the girl I love? I may not be the brightest bulb in the box but I'm not that stupid."

"Oh I don't expect you to trust me, you are far smarter than that. In fact, I thought you would pull out one of your fancy guns and blow me to kingdom come the moment you saw me, so I'm amazed that I'm still breathing."

"Flattery will get you no where."

"But information will." She stood a foot away but had stopped walking, giving Roland a much better look at her. From what he could tell she was skinny, but Roland guessed she had a fair amount of muscle built up. She had on some form of heels which put her at the same height as the boy, giving her the ability to look him in the eye.

"What are you trying to imply?"

"Maybe I've decided to help you kid." She reached up and placed her hands on her mask, her thumbs clicking two buttons in the back to release it. Slowly she revealed her face, pulling away the mask and holding it at her side. She kept the hood up but Roland had a good view of her face. He had figured she was older, possible in her twenties, but she seemed to be the same age as him. Her eyes were bright blue and seemed to glow in the dark, and a small bit of blond hair showed itself from under the hood.

"So you take off your mask and you expect me to believe what you say?"

"Well, you can believe it, or you can walk deeper into this warehouse and get yourself killed. Your choice." As she spoke Roland could fangs in her mouth, larger and sharper than regular human canines.

"Before we continue, I have a question. Are you the species of faunas I think you are?"

"If you're thinking snake, then yes." A flash of self-confidence glimmered in her eyes.

"Well don't I feel honored. Your people are so rare some believe they're extinct."

"Oh I'm well aware. But my people are few and far in between, so the extinct part is understandable."

"So, let me take a quick analysis of my situation. I'm standing in an abandoned warehouse with a faunas that poisoned me, stole my girlfriend, then came back and says she wants to help me? And, she's a snake-faunas, who were notorious for their backstabbing tactics. Give me a reason why I shouldn't put a sword through your chest and be done with it."

"Because-" She reached into her back pocket, then held her hand out in front of her, keeping it closed. "-I'm supposed to give this to you." She opened in her hand and in her palm sat a small, golden ring. Roland's eyes widened when he saw it, recognizing the piece of jewelry immediately. The girl moved her hand forward a bit more, gesturing for Roland to take it. Carefully he took the ring from her hand, holding it in between his thumb and index finger and staring at it. "This is Elisabeth's. I gave it to her…"

"I spent a bit of time with her while we waited for you. After I convinced her that I really wanted to help, she gave me this and told me to give it to you."

"And how do I know you didn't just take this from her forcefully?"

"You don't. But you can take the chance and trust me, or you can try to walk into that death trap."

Roland looked at the ring, then the girl, then the ring again. "Fine. I don't trust you, but I'll go along with your plan. Now what do you think we can do?" Roland placed the ring in one of the pouches on his belt and watched as a small smile spread across the girl's face.

"I'm going to use the same poison on you that I used last time. Its a very weak neurotoxin, made to paralyze and knock out the target instead of killing them. I use it on you, bring you back, they tie you up and I sneak in and loosen your restraints. Wait for the right moment and bing bang bosh you're free." As she spoke she held up her blowpipe and showed Roland the dart that already sat inside.

"Fine. But you do know what'll happen if you betray me?"

"Judging by your semblance, you'd probably be able to fight off any real poison I've got, and then I'm guessing I'd die."

"Yeah, pretty much."

"Okay. But first, give me a few wounds."

"What? Why?"

"Because do you really think I could beat you in a fight and bring you back without a scratch on me?" She held her hands up in the air, leaving her completely open. "Now put a few scratches on my stomach and a couple on my shoulders and legs. That should be convincing enough."

Roland was going to try to protest again but realized that the girl had a point. Showing up with him slung over her shoulder while being completely unharmed would be suspicious. The boy then shrugged and brought up his swords, getting ready to strike. Incredibly carefully Roland swung at the girl, feeling the very tip of his blade come in contact with skin and slice through it. After a few hits on her torso he moved on to her legs and shoulders, taking just as much care to not cut too deep.

"Okay, is that enough?"

The girl looked down at her body, seemingly unaffected by the numerous wounds that now leaked blood on her clothes. "Yeah, that should be good." She dropped her hands down and took out her blowpipe.

"Did that not hurt?" Roland asked, slightly concerned for the girl's health.

"Not really. Besides, now I get to do this." She brought the blowpipe to her lips and blew out quickly, sending the dart into Roland's neck. In seconds the boy felt the familiar of his limbs going numb.

"You could have given me a warning." He grunted, falling to his knees and dropping his swords.

"Yeah, I could have, but I didn't." The girl smirked as she bent down and slung Roland over her shoulder.

"Don't forget the swords."

"I'll get the swords. Will you just pass out already? Any normal person would have been out cold in less than two seconds." As she spoke Roland's vision slowly started to fade to black.

"Well, I suppose I can be... A bit annoying at times…"

She felt his body go completely limp, the toxin finally doing its job. "You got that right. Now lets pray this works, otherwise you and I won't make it to tomorrow."

* * *

Everything was blurry. All Roland could make out was a wall a brown around him. He could feel that he was in a chair, but the room around him was fairly dark. He looked up to see a single spotlight directly above which cast a perfectly circular area of light around him. It was dim but gave the boy enough light to see, and as Roland's eyesight cleared up he could tell that he was still in a warehouse.

"Well, it's about time you woke up. Now we can finally get started." The sound of Cinder's voice made Roland's blood want to boil.

"You must realize that I will kill you and anyone who associates themselves with you." Roland could hear Cinder's footsteps slowly drawing closer from behind him.

"Oh come now Roland, there's no need for violence…" She walked around the chair he was seated in and traced the line of his jaw with her index finger. The boy tried to pull away but his arms refused to move due to the chains that held them in place. "I just want to talk."

"Oh really? Well lets discuss the most painful deaths possible, and then we can use you as a test subject."

"Now I think that's a little uncalled for. What have I done to you?"

"I'd make a list but there isn't enough paper in the world."

"All I wanted is for you to join us." Cinder laughed, amused at Roland's stubbornness. "And this time, I think you'll be more inclined to agree."

"Oh do you know? And why is that?"

"Because, I have this." Cinder pointed towards one if the darker areas of the room, both people watching as another spotlight lit up and revealed a girl in a similar position as Roland, except her head was drooped and she slumped to the side slightly.

"Elisabeth!" Roland yanked forward in his chair again, trying to get to the girl but being held back by the chains that dug into his arms. "What did you do to her?! If you hurt her I will kill you!"

"Roland, Roland, calm down. We didn't hurt her, and we don't intend to. Unless you refuse us, of course." Cinder started to walk towards the girl, smirking as she heard Roland tug at his chains again.

"Don't you dare touch her!"

"I don't think that attitude will get you anywhere. Now then, how about we wake up our little kitty cat?" Cinder reached the girl and pushed her on the shoulder, nearly tipping the chair over. Elisabeth snapped awake, her eyes looking tired and empty.

"What do you want? I thought I made it clear that you were to leave me alone." Elisabeth glared at Cinder, fire rimming the faunas' eyes.

"We have a visitor, one you might be excited to see." Cinder waved a hand at Roland and watched as Elisabeth's eyes lit up.

"Roland! What are you doing here? You'll get yourself killed!" Now it was Elisabeth's turn to try to fight her restraints, trying to jump forward and run to the boy.

"Now lets cut to the chase. If Roland over there does what we tell him to, we let you go. And if he doesn't, we have _other _methods." A flame appeared in Cinder's hand as she spoke.

"Roland, listen to me, whatever they do to me _do not_ give in. I don't know what they intend to do but it can't be good, so refuse them!" Elisabeth's words echoed in Roland's head as he was faced with an impossible choice. Refuse and watch Elisabeth get hurt or comply and end up doing something bad. He knew what he had to do but still hated himself for it.

"You can go screw yourself Cinder. I told you before and I'll tell you again; I will not work for you. Not now, not ever."

"Hm, I'm sorry to hear that. I really hoped it wouldn't come to this." Seconds after Cinder finished her sentence she pressed her index against Elisabeth's bare shoulder, the faunas crying out in pain as the smell of burnt flesh started to fill the air. The woman pulled her hand back after a few seconds, watching as Elisabeth's head slumped down, the girl's shoulders heaving as she fought back tears. "You can end this anytime Roland."

"Don't… Do it…" Elisabeth could barely speak, the pain in her shoulder unbearable as she clenched her teeth in an attempt to lessen it. Roland watched from across the room, his teeth clenched as well as he felt his semblance start to build up. Tears stung his eyes at the sight of Elisabeth getting hurt but he couldn't do anything to stop it.

"No…" Roland looked away and closed his eyes, scared of what he knew was coming. Elisabeth's scream filled the air again, this time deeper and filed with even more pain than the last.

"It didn't have to be this difficult Roland. You could have just agreed." Elisabeth's scream stopped for a few seconds, then rang out again. The sound of it drilled into Roland's mind and echoed long after it had originally ended, ripping his heart to shreds as the monster inside him demanded action.

"R-Roland…" Elisabeth's voice was weak and barely audible but still caused the boy to look up. Tears stained the girl's face and her shoulders and arms were now covered in burns. She only had on a tank top and a dirty pair of jeans, her hair a mess and her eyes filled with exhaustion. "How… How are we g-gonna get out of this o-one?"

"It'll be alright Elisabeth, just keep looking at me. It'll be alright, I'll save us, I promise. Everything will be okay." It took all his might to keep his voice from breaking. Tears ran down his face but his jaw remained clenched from pure rage. Cinder was harming the girl he loved, and no one harmed the people Roland loved.

"You don't get it, do ya kid." Roman walked up behind Roland and looked at him disapprovingly. "We're the ones in control here, so I suggest you keep your mouth shut about saving the day." Roman suddenly slammed his cane into the boy's chest, his face turning to one of satisfaction as a small trickle of blood leaked from Roland's mouth while he gasped for air.

"Y-you really m-m-messed up…" Roland was ready now. He'd had finally seen her; the assassin. She was watching from one of the cross beams on the ceiling, looking down and making gestures with her hands. She kept mimicking the way Roland's hands were bound by the chains, then rolled her wrists in a figure-eight like pattern. He waited until he was sure he had recovered from the blow, then slowly repeated the motion. The chains loosened significantly but Roland didn't jump up yet. He still needed one last act to push him over.

"Careful Roman, if I remember correctly his family was known for holding grudges." Cinder and Roman both smirked at each other while Elisabeth felt confused beyond all belief. She felt dizzy and sick from the pain and now her mind was spinning in an attempt to put the puzzle pieces together.

"And it looks like he inherited some of that from his parents." Cinder burned Elisabeth again, still using only one finger but pushing down much harder, the girl now sobbing from the unimaginable pain.

But that last scream was all Roland needed. He could feel the process starting. His blood running ice-cold, his vision slowly getting darker as bits of black flame spread across his body. The whispers slowly faded in and out of his mind until they were all replaced by a single solitary voice that asked Roland to give in. It sounded like the pure embodiment of darkness, hissing like a snake at some points of its speech.

"I let you out on one condition… You kill everything in here except for the assassin… and Elisabeth…" Roland's body was completely covered in flames now, cold sweat running down his face as he fought to hold on for a little while longer.

"_**Deal**_"

"Enjoy… yourself…" Then he gave in. His eyes went black as the chains that previously restrained him fell to the ground. Roland stood and the chair turned to ash, dissolving and being blown away. He started walking towards Cinder, his feet leaving black footprints that radiated darkness, sinking into the concrete floor as the boy slowly made his way across the room.

"Well then, I think its time we left." Cinder waved her hands and waited until runes surrounded her body. She moved her hands again and an orange circle appeared at her feet, then another appeared below Roman's. "I'd love to stick around and watch you go on a rampage, but I still have a few plans to execute before I let you try to kill me. Ta ta for now." The circle at Cinder's feet started to increase in brightness until the woman herself seemed to glow.

Roland still walked slowly, seemingly unaffected by the woman's words but his face was filled with rage. He could see Cinder start to disappear and knew what she was doing, but still made no attempt to stop her. Even in this state Roland was smart, and so he didn't bother wasting energy in an attempt to stop Cinder. Instead he stopped walking and raised up his arm, his index finger extended as he seemed to be pointing at his foe. Her body was only half there, seeming to fade out of existence like a ghost would. Just as she seemed to disappear a straight line of black shot out of Roland's finger, clipping Cinder on the arm. She disappeared a second later along with Roman, but Roland seemed to be satisfied.

To his a left one of the walls of boxes suddenly splintered, pieces of wood flying through the air as a wave of White Fang stormed into the area. Roland turned to face them, standing perfectly still as a row of gun barrels were all aimed at his head. The boy raised his hand as they all fired at once, the rattling of empty bullet shells bouncing off the cement floor and filling the air as the bullets raced towards him but never hit their target. As they neared Roland the pieces of metal seemed to bounce off an invisible wall, their tips bent and crushed as they hit the floor, completely useless. The White Fang didn't stop shooting until their clips were empty, watching with fearful eyes as Roland slowly let his hand return to his side.

"_**My turn.**_" Roland snapped his fingers and for a moment no one moved. Then black tentacles shot out of the ground around the White Fang, impaling them as they all tried to make sense of what was happening. Roland snapped his fingers again and the tentacles retracted, disappearing into the ground just as suddenly as they had come as the bodies started to dissolve into ash.

Elisabeth only sat a few feet away, amazed yet terrified at Roland's display of power. He was completely unstoppable and by the looks of it uncaring as well. All the girl could do was watch the black flames slowly grow in size and intensity until she felt a small tug at the chains behind her. She turned her head as far around as she could and saw the assassin crouching behind her. From what Elisabeth could tell she was trying to get the chains off Elisabeth's arms.

"You stick around much longer you're gonna get yourself killed…" Elisabeth didn't realize how fatigued she was until she tried to speak. Her voice was weak and quiet, so much in fact that the girl didn't even recognize it and felt like she was using someone else's voice.

"Well, I figure your friend is going to tear this place down and I just thought it'd be nice if you didn't die." With one final tug the assassin got the chains off, the lines of metal clanging against the floor as Elisabeth rolled her shoulders in an attempt to relieve the soreness in them, feeling multiple bones pop as the aching joints were finally able to move again.

After she was satisfied with the returned feeling in her arms Elisabeth tried to stand but ended up falling down on one knee, her legs unable to support her weight. "You really don't realize how bad that torture was for your body do you?" The assassin bent down and pulled one of Elisabeth's arms around her shoulder, standing up slowly and supporting Elisabeth. "Now how are we going to get out of here?"

As she spoke another section of boxes exploded, three times the number of White Fang running towards Roland this time. Elisabeth and the assassin stood in between the two, both of them knowing they wouldn't be able to move fast enough to get to safety. Seconds later one of the White Fang was inches away, getting ready to swing a sword down straight at the pair. Elisabeth watched as his arm swung down in a blur and closed her eyes, waiting for it all to end.

Her anticipation was only met with the sound of a soft _thud. _The girl opened her eyes and saw the blade centimeters away from her head, Roland's hand grasping the very base of the sharp metal. A small trickle of blood started to leak from his hand but the boy showed no signs of pain, simply looking the White Fang dead in the eyes as he put his body in between the criminal and the girls.

"_**You.**_" The blood that was running down the sword suddenly turned black.

"_**Will not.**_" The flames on Roland's body grew even stronger.

"_**TOUCH HER.**_" The swords turned to ash, the black cloud hovering in the air before rematerializing above Roland's head. The blade suddenly shot forward plunged itself into the White Fang's chest, the man staring down at the weapon before falling to the side and harshly colliding with the ground.

Roland stepped over the body, paying it no mind as the swarm of enemies before him all watched and waited. None of them dared try to attack, knowing that so much as a step forward would result in their death, and so everyone stood still. Elisabeth and the assassin watched and waited as Roland stared down his foes, everyone waiting to see what would happen next.

"_**No one will touch her.**_" A black flame appeared in Roland's left hand, similar to the flame Cinder would always conjure up. He waited until it started to spread, the dark fire coming in contact with his skin and spreading out, all the fire on the rest of the boy's body going out as the flame in his palm continued to grow in size. A few of the White Fang started to step away, knowing that whatever Roland was doing couldn't be good.

But Roland wasn't going to let any of them get away.

Without any warning Roland stretched his arm back then slammed his fist into the ground, layers of pure darkness swarming into the ground and cracking the concrete. Vein-like patterns spread all across the floor in seconds, reaching the White Fang and keeping them in place, their legs seemingly glued to the ground as they tried and failed to run away. The veins spread up the walls and onto the ceiling, the entire building quickly turning black as member after member of the White Fang burst into ashes. The walls of the warehouse started to rumble and shake, parts of the ceiling collapsing and crashing down around Elisabeth and the assassin.

Then Roland moved again, standing up from the kneeling position he had been in and facing the girls. He was at least ten feet away but his body itself turned to ashes then reappeared mere inches away from the girls, the flames on his body slowly starting to weaken and die out. The boy did nothing for a few moments as the massive chunks of metal and concrete crashed down around them, a scene of chaos unfolding at a rapid pace as Roland simply stared at the two girls.

"_**A deals a deal.**_" He stepped forward and wrapped an arm around them both, the assassin pulling away momentarily but deciding to stay after she realized that Roland wasn't going to hurt them. Elisabeth felt like she could do nothing more than watch as Roland raised an open palm to the sky, encircling the trio in a black sphere as the building around them fell apart, the sound of rubble falling great distances and hitting the ground deafening. The world around them seemed to cease to exist as Roland put the last of his energy into keeping up the barrier before collapsing to the ground. The black sphere around them faded slightly but still kept them safe as Elisabeth followed Roland down, catching the boy before he hit the ground and holding him in her arms.

Elisabeth lost consciousness seconds later. She hadn't even realized that her body had been pushed far beyond its limits, the low supply of food and water she had been given over the past week barely enough to keep her alive.

The assassin could only wait, watch, and pray. Pray that the barrier stayed up long enough.


	21. Announcement

**Hey guys, so sorry but no chapter today. I'm taking a small break so I can come up with some more ideas for the story. I never imagined I would get this far, and so I never really planned any more beyond the warehouse scene. Actually, he story was originally end in the warehouse, but you guys seem to be enjoying the story and I'm having a great time writing it, so I've decided to keep it going for as long as I can. But for now I need a small break to think of some more material. Nothing massive, probably just a week, but I wanted to let you guys know that there won't be another chapter going up for a week or two at the most. **


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